So Close
by The Winged Wonder
Summary: Ella finally musters up the courage to tell Iggy how she feels, but what happens when Iggy doesn't want to admit that he feels the same way? LOTS of Romaction. Major Eggy! Reviews are as appreciated as Nutella, and that's a lot. A whole lot.
1. Chapter 1

I was sitting under an oak tree, sunlight bathing my face, my eyes closed (as if it would make a difference if I opened them!)

This was the first time I'd been alone in ages. I didn't have anything to worry about.

No Flyboys or Erasers, no mad scientists chasing us and trying to "regenerate" us, no filthy rich gazillionaires trying to auction us off to their other filthy rich gazillionaire buddies.

It all seemed a bit suspicious, but I didn't want to think about it now. I just wanted to enjoy this quiet, peaceful day, 'cause I knew it wouldn't last long.

CRACKLE!

A twig spanned behind me and I whirled around, ready for action.

"Who's there?"

"I-it's just me"

That voice… Where had I heard it before? It sounded so fami-

"Ella?" I asked incredulously.

Why was _Ella_ here, of all people?


	2. Chapter 2

"Yeah. Um, I noticed you left, and I was worried about you. Is something wrong?"

I blinked a couple of times and let the information sink in.

_She_ was _worried_ about _me?_

Anyone hardly worried about me - unless I got physically hurt. I mean, it's not like the Flock doesn't love me or anything, but I just mainly keep to myself, being different and all.

"No. Nothing's wrong. I just, you know, wanted some peace and quiet."

Wait- what if she took that the wrong way?

"I know how you feel. Sometimes I just wanna get away from it all."

_Tell me about it, _I thought.

"Um, yeah. Since you're okay, I guess I'd, uh, better go now, and leave you alone"

I could hear the awkwardness in hear voice, as if she didn't know what to say.

I _knew _ she would take it the wrong way!

"No!" I blurted out. "Don't go." I could feel myself blushing. "I mean, sit down. Let's talk."

Silence.

"Not if you don't want to, I mean. You can go if you'd like," I sputtered.

_Stupid, stupid,_ I thought to myself. _What makes you think she'd want to talk to _you? _ You, a freak, a blind freak!_

"Yeah, sure," she replied.

We both sat down and I awkwardly stared straight at nothing.

Why did this feel so weird?

"So," Ella said. "No one's tried to kill you this month. That's good, isn't it?"

"Yeah," I muttered. "It's a real advantage to not be dead by now."

I twiddled my fingers, thinking of things we could talk about. She was so… _different_ from me. With the Flock, we always had something to talk about, something to do.

It was always fun to talk about how we'd kicked the bad guys' asses; Gazzy and I spent _hours_ working on gas bombs, and sometimes Angel would play one of her gizmo mind games on us. And if all failed, we would just fly.

With Ella, there wasn't anything I could do. She was so _human._

_You're 98% human too, Iggy. Don't forget that._

Sometimes I wondered if my conscience was talking to me, or if we all had Voices inside our heads like Max.

Max. Yeah, I could talk about Max. She _was_ Ella's half-sister, after all.

"So, how does it feel to have Max as a big sister?" I asked.

"I… don't know," she replied slowly. "I love Max, I really do, but she's not home much. I haven't really gotten to spend as much time with her as I'd like to."

"Yeah," I snorted. "She's too busy being a pain in the ass for the scientists to be home by curfew."

Long pause. Had I said something wrong?

"Oh," Ella said. "Sorry. I'm nodding."

"But… Iggy?" She continued. "I didn't really come here to talk about Max."

"I know," I replied. "You came here to check up on me."

She laughed softly.

"That was just an excuse."

The dried leaves crackled underneath as I felt her move closer."

"Iggy, I…."

**DUN DUN DUUUUN! That's my dramatic voice. What's gonna happen next?? Oooh. Criticism, reviews, and advice are needed much. R&R please. :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey hey! I'm back! Third chapter! What could Ella possibly want to say to Iggy?? Read on to find out!**

My heart pounded faster and my palms got sweaty.

_Oh no,_ I thought. _Not this. Not now._

"Iggy, I really like you," Ella said hesitantly.

_NOOOOO!_ My brain screamed, but my heart was beating to another tune. It was telling me to act as I felt.

_NOOO! _My brain screamed once again. _YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T! YOU CAN'T!_

_WHY?_ My heart demanded.

_DO YOU WANT TO PUT HER IN DANGER?_

_WITH LOVE THERE_ IS_ NO DANGER!_ My heart replied

While this unspoken, unheard battle was going on inside me, I felt Ella tensing.

I had to say something, but _what? _

"I…I'm…I," I stuttered.

What should I say?

"It's okay if we don't share the same feelings for each other," Ella said, her voice choked.

"NO!," I shouted, then felt myself reddening. "It's just that…I…I'm sorry Ella, I really am."

I jumped in the air and did an up and away without looking back. (Wait-would I even _see _anything if I looked back? Sometimes I have the power to confuse even myself.)

A thousand feelings ran through my body.

Anger.

Confusion.

Embarrassment.

Sadness.

The weirdest part was that my insides were tingling just like they had when I'd eaten too much cake on our last birthday. What could it possibly be?

Oh God. No. No, no, no, no, NOOOOO!

I couldn't possibly like Ella _back,_ could I?

I cringed. What was love, anyways?

I mean, I _know_ what love is. I love my Flock, even when Max is being a pighead, and Nudge won't shut up, and Angel creeps the hell out of us with her weird visions, but love, as in _kissing, holding hands, roses?_

Not my kind of thing.

I made _fun_ of that sorta stuff, I didn't _feel _it.

I, Iggy, did not like girls in that way. I just didn't.

I was the guy who felt colors and embarrassed Max and Fang when they want their smoochie time, the guy who could cook ten times better than the butthead leader, the guy who made explosive bombs with Gazzy.

I was the blind mutant freak.

I wasn't some lovesick teen. Like I said, not my kind of thing.

_How about that girl back_ _Virginia? The one that helped you at school? _My tiny voice asked.

_Aw, _shut up! I replied, mentally rolling my eyes.

And then came the anger, once again, but this time, at myself, for taking off like that. I was sure I'd hurt Ella's feelings by just leaving her all alone without a proper answer. And what if someone had seen me fly away?

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ I cursed at myself.

Just when I'd thought that I'd finally be able to stay away from drama for a while, _this_ had come up. Great. How was I supposed to tell Ella that even if I _had_ liked her (I didn't, did I? Ugh, I don't even know how I feel anymore!) there was _absolutely no way_ we could be together.

As always, my brain had been more reasonable than my heart and had warned me of the danger that I'd put Ella in if she was seen with me.

Hadn't Ari died trying to protect us?

Hadn't Jeb taken a bullet for us?

Hadn't all the scientists back in Antarctica gotten hurt trying to fight Gozen and his army of minibots?

No human was safe with us.

The worst thing was that I couldn't talk to anybody about this. If I'd told Max she'd probably list all the things that would go wrong if Ella and I were together. Yeah… No help there.

Nudge would give me a bunch of teen magazines and tell me to follow the instructions, and would probably never leave the subject alone.

Angel would just insist on reading Ella's mind for me, or pursuing me to tell her I liked her. ( I didn't! I didn't! I didn't!)

Gazzy wouldn't be any help either. Love disgusted him. I was his freakin' idol. His world would be shattered if I told him I was goin' soft. And if _that_ wasn't bad enough, he'd get over it in a few days and spend hours making a stink bomb so everyone would clear the house so we'd be alone.

Fang would've probably understood, but being the jerkwad that he was, he'd abandoned us.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" I screamed, but my voice was lost in the strong wind.

I headed in the direction of Dr. Martinez's house, my head spinning with a thousand thoughts.

**I hope you guys liked that chapter. I know it was longer than the other chapters, but that was because I wrote them in the few minutes that I could when I seized the computer from my bratty sisters. Oh, and I made some changes to chapters one and two. I didn't change anything, I just took, like, a paragraph from chapter 1 and put it in chapter 2, 'cause I like dramatic chapter endings. **

**Any advice, criticism, and reviews are welcome. If you have any ideas for me, please send a message to my inbox. If you have any questions about the story, or the characters, or anything else in general, you can email me at: asmileaday77 (it's at yahoo, but the Document Manager won't accept it, for some reason o.O)**

**Or you could ask me on formspring. me or Twitter.**

**My formspring username is: asmileaday77**

**My Twitter username is: asmileaday77**

**Oh, and I'm not makin' any promises, what with finals coming up and stuff, but I'm going to try to upload a chapter each day (i might even upload 2, if i'm in the mood) **

**R&R please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: As much as I would've liked to, I do not own the Maximum Ride series, or any of the characters or ideas. I wish I did, though, 'cause I would've been a millionaire by now if I had. ****They all belong to James Patterson. **

By the time I reach the house, I'm a fiery ball of fury and nervousness.

Will Ella say anything when she sees me?

How am I supposed to respond?

What do I say?

"Uh, yeah, Ella? Sorry for taking off like that and scaring the crap out of you."

I'm not sure that'll work.

I slow down as my foot comes closer and closer to the door step.

Dr. Martinez is waiting for me.

Oh no!

Did Ella tell her?

_Of course she told her, you idiot!_ I scoff at my stupidity. _She's her freakin' mother!_

Will she be angry?

Not likely. She doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

I stop flapping my wings as I reach the ground, but I still can't find the courage to lift my face, to look into Dr. Martinez's caring eyes, now probably filled with misery. (A person doesn't need eyes to know that.)

_I never meant to hurt your daughter!_ I mentally apologized. _I really and truly didn't! You, of all people, should understand what it'd do to her to be my… my…_

Thankfully, Dr. Martinez interrupted my thoughts.

"Come in, Iggy. It's getting dark outside."

Did I hear sadness in her voice?

Crap. All this because I couldn't reply to such a simple question?

For once in my life, I was happy that I was blind. I knew that I would crumble to the floor if I could actually _see_ the accusing eyes boring into my back.

The room was absolutely quiet. As in, if an Eraser had craftily hidden himself somewhere but had been stupid enough to breathe, we would've been sure to hear it. (**I'm sorry if you think that example was kinda weird, but they were Iggy's words, not mine.) **

I headed to the room I shared with Gazzy. I was in no mood for this, and I could do without any of Angel's mind reading or persuading right now.

As I passed Max and Nudge's room, I heard stifled sobs and something that sounded like "_Jerk. Stupid jerk. Why did you have to go and leave me?"_

Guess I'm not the only one with love problems.

That night, dinner was quiet. Everyone ate their chicken stir fry (made by yours truly in hope of earning some points from at least _someone_) in complete silence.

Call me crazy, but I was craving a good fight. I wished that some evil mumbo-jumbo scientist experiment would attack us right now. Anything would've been better than this unbearable silence.

I just wished Gazzy would make a fart noise, or that Nudge would start talking about some new teen celebrity, or that Angel would-

"You know, it'd be easier if you just told her how you felt. You're making such a big deal out of this, Iggy."

Thanks to my super-sensors, I heard the vibrations as every head swiveled around to look at Angel.

"Wha-what do you mean?" I said, trying to keep my voice steady so no one would hear how nervous all this made me.

I wasn't the emotional one. I was the Flock's chef, their weapon-supplier, their Mr. Sarcastic Guy. I was anything but emotional.

Angel scoffed.

"Geez, Ig. Just tell her already. God, you're just like Max now. Like I said, it'd be easier if you just admitted it."

Angel was giving me advice on how to "admit" my "love" for Ella?

Yeah, 'cause psychopathic 7-year-olds with a serious case of mental illness are total love experts.

"I actually know more about love than you think, Iggy," she said, her voice calm and collected. "And by the way, I never said anything about you "loving" Ella. Those were your thoughts, not mine."

I squelched some extra colorful words, hoping that Angel would hear them and feel guilty for reading my mind.

"Sheesh. Just say it, Ig. Declare what your heart's been telling you all this time. You can do it."

Now all heads were turned in my direction.

I felt this metallic taste in my mouth, as if I'd swallowed a bucket of motor oil. My hands twitched as they always did when I was nervous.

Everyone was expecting me to say something, but _what?_

**Well, I wrote this chapter yesterday, but at 12 A.M. and the laptop I was using didn't have internet connection, so I couldn't upload it. I hope you guys liked it. I love ending chapters with tension. I'm always open to advice, criticism, and reviews. If you have any ideas for my story, any of the characters, etc, or if you have an idea of what should happen in the next chapter, you could send a message to my inbox, or email me at asmileaday77 (at yahoo)**

**Or you could ask me questions about the story on Twitter of Formspring. me **

**My formspring & Twitter usernames are both ****asmileaday77****.**

**Oh, if any of you are wondering how Iggy knew that Dr. Martinez's eyes were "caring", the answer is that he didn't KNOW, he just felt it. He assumed that since she was so nice, her eyes would be "caring". So..i'm not crazy, or unreasonable.**

**You would make me really happy by R&R'ing. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

I shook my head and tried to clear my clogged throat.

"No," I whispered hoarsely.

"What's that, Ig? We couldn't hear you. Could you repeat that, but louder?" Angel's snobbish voice did it. Everything inside me broke. It's like all my bottled-up emotions suddenly decided to break free and flow freely.

Anger washed over me, and I pounded my fist on the table.

"I said _no,_" I repeated firmly.

Angel was suddenly quiet. I was feeling kinda glad that I'd shut her up when my body was overtaken by this weird sensation. I felt a sudden urge to hug Ella and tell her I'd always loved her.

These weren't my feelings. Was that little shameless twerp trying her stupid persuading controls on _me?_

Oh, _hell_ no. No. There was no way in hell that I would allow her to do that.

I pushed back my chair and got up.

"You little _jerk!_" I yelled. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you? Why can't you just leave things the way they are? Why do you have to interfere with everything? Is it _so_ hard to keep your little nose out of other people's lives? Why do you think everyone's scared of you? You just want everything to go the way _you_ want it to, but destiny's one thing even _you _can't meddle with!"

I knew I was hurting her, but I wouldn't, _couldn't_, stop.

"You know what? I wish _you'd_ have left instead of Fang! At least he didn't try to get into everybody's business and force them to do things they didn't want to!"

Stunned silence.

No one had ever seen me this angry before.

I rushed upstairs, my face burning.

**Wow! Who would've guessed it? An Angel/Iggy fight. Sometimes I even surprise myself. You see, *****I* ****don't control my stories. I just start 'em, and, well, they just unfurl by themselves. I know the chapter is kinda short, but like I said, not my doing. I didn't even have anything planned out for Chapter 5, but I went through some sort of trance and wrote this half-consciously, but when I re-read it, it sounded pretty good. It shows another side of Iggy that you don't really see in the MR books. **

**Well, I've been working really hard to please my (few) readers, so I think I deserve some reviews, eh?  
You know how you can contact me! (Contact info in chapters 3 and 4, if needed)**

**I hope you liked this chapter!**

**I wrote this chapter yesterday (well, technically today, 'cause it was 2 A.M.) but decided to upload it today along with chapter four because BookHunter requested it. Chapter 6 is in the oven and chapter 7 is currently in process. **

**Oh, and, by the way, in about a week or two, I'm going to post up another MR story, about what happens to Fang after FANG: A Maximum Ride Novel. It's a major "FANG" spoiler and I don't recommend you to read it if you haven't read Fang. I have a strange feeling that you're going to like it, though. **

**Keep rocking!**


	6. Chapter 6

**What happens to Iggy after his angry outburst? I suggest that you read on to find out! I have no idea what's gonna happen. My hands take control. I don't do anything but type. Either way, enjoy! **

I sat on my bed, head in hands, so many different thoughts swirling around in my head. The Flock didn't fight. We just _didn't. _You just _can't_ fight with the five other people that are your only family, that are the only people that are _like_ you. The only thing close to a fight had been between Max and Angel. They had been worst enemies a couple of months ago. Now Max barely talked to anyone. It had been two months since Fang had left us.

Max still e-mailed him every day, but she never got a response. None of us ever did. She faithfully read his blog and forced Nudge to try to track him through the blogs, but Fang was no idiot. He always used one of those Internet Café computers when he was blogging.

_God, I wish you were here, Fang. I'm sorry I ever made fun of you and Max. I need you, man. _

I could almost _see_ Fang's closed face, his silky dark hair swishing as he nodded.

"_Just listen to your heart, man. That's the best advice I can give you,"_ he'd say.

I was angry once again. I tried sending him a telepathic message.

_GODDAMIT, Fang! Just come back, dude! All of us are falling apart without you. Max is torn to pieces, Gazzy hardly laughs anymore, Angel's using your absence to try to take control once again, and as hard as Nudge tries, even_ she_ can't cheer up anyone, including herself! We all need you! We need your pigheaded silence, your weird, but always good advice, your sarcasm, the random facts that no one besides you knows. We complete you, and you complete us. What kind of dumbass leaves his Flock on their butts and takes off for the "good of all of us?"_

I was getting _way_ too emotional.

I knew that things were going to get uglier if I couldn't get myself under control, so I did what any freaked out bird-kid would do: I climbed the roof, launched myself off, and flew into the gray sky. It would be raining soon, but I didn't care. I just needed to get away, to clear my head. My mind went back to the flock, to Dr. Martinez, to…..Ella.

I couldn't blame all this on her, as much as I would've loved to. None of this was her fault. She couldn't have known how I would've reacted. I'm sure that if she had, she would've never told me she liked me in the first place.

First Ella, then Dr. Martinez, and then Angel.

I'd hurt three people today.

Three in a row.

What next?

I heard a loud thunderclap, and little raindrops started pelting my face, hands, and every other part of me that wasn't covered.

Rain.

It was dangerous to fly in the rain. It made your wings wet, made them too heavy to carry.

I cursed at my inanity, like I had so many times today. I hadn't acted rationally and now I was going to pay for it.

_How tragic,_ I thought, mocking myself. _You've teased death so many times, had so many close calls, but of all the ways to die, you're going to die because you were too stupid to think of the fact that you wouldn't be able to fly in the rain. Nice going. _

The rain got faster, the raindrops soaking my wings. I kept flapping with all my might. I wouldn't die. I couldn't die. Not after everything that had happened. I _couldn't_ die without telling Ella what I really felt.

I couldn't.

I couldn't.

Determined, I kept whapping my wings, but they were getting too heavy. I was dropping.

I tried to scream, but no sound came out. I grasped at nothing as I kept spiraling down, every raindrop hitting my face like a slap.

**Oh my gosh. Wow. That was the coolest chapter ever. I swear, I had NOTHING planned out. Like I mentioned earlier, my fingers take control. I don't think, I just do. Wow guys. Seriously. The powers of writing amaze me. I hope you guys liked that chapter as much as I did, considering the fact that I wasn't even going to write something like that. **

**You know how you can contact me if you want to ask questions! (PLEASE don't ask in the reviews section, because I won't be able to reply to you personally)**

**If you have any ideas for what should happen next, please share them with me! **

**Remember, every review matters, so please R&R!**

**Oh, and if you guys are wondering why Dylan's not in the story, since this obviously takes place ****after**** "FANG" , I was going to put him in the story somewhere, but he didn't fit in, so I sent him off to Hawaii for a vacation. He needed one, anyways. He probably doesn't even know what a beach is. **

**(Random fact: I wrote this chapter and the commentary above yesterday, but posted the chapter online today) **

**AND it's twelve in the morning right now, and I'm dying. I got some really good ideas for my chapters (chapter 7 is finished too, in case you're wondering) and the only thing keeping me awake is the fact that people like my stories, and want me to update. (Well, my mp3 playing at full blast could have something to do with it too, but I get my best ideas when I'm listening to music)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: MR and all its characters belong to James Patterson (other than the new characters that might be provided by yours truly in the future)  
I DO NOT OWN MAXIMUM RIDE. **

I tried to open my eyes, tried to scream, tried to move my arms, but nothing happened. It was as if my body had abandoned me. I couldn't do anything.

Where was I?

"Will he be okay? Mom, tell me he's going to be okay!"

Was that really Ella's frantic voice I was hearing, or was it my imagination?

"Honey, I'm trying everything I can. I really am, but his wings are seriously injured, and he knocked up his head pretty bad. He's lost a lot of blood."

That must've been Dr. Martinez.

"Remind me again why we're not in a hospital and here, in the woods."

Gazzy. I was sure of it.

"Because Iggy's really injured and if Mom had tried to even drive him to the nearest hospital, which, may I remind you, is miles away from this forest, we would've lost Iggy forever. Capiche?" A voice replied sharply.

Obviously Max. No one could play the leader role better than her.

I tried to move, tried to say something, but I felt as if someone had dropped a 50-ton boulder on my head.

"Mgmhbhhhh," I mumbled. My fingers twitched.

"Oh my God, he's coming around!" Nudge yelled.

"Ahhhhh." I tried to raise my head, but every small movement was like a stab in my skull. I let my head drop, and everything went dark once again.

A jolt when through me, and I felt my body tremble.

"Mom! What are you doing?" Max yelled.

"I _had_ to give him electricity, Max, or he would've died."

A trembling voice came from somewhere behind me.

"Mom? Is he… is he conscious?"

"I don't know, sweetie."

"Can I..Can I talk to him?"

"Okay. He might not respond, though."

I heard the sound of feet shuffling.

"Iggy? Iggy, can you hear me? Please tell me you can hear me. I'm so sorry…. About earlier. I shouldn't have just surprised you like that without any warning. It's okay. You don't have to like me. Just…Iggy, please, just…You can do this. You can make it. You're going to be okay. You're going to be fine."

She took my hand and kept chanting "You're going to be fine, just fine," over and over.

I wanted to say something, to comfort her, to tell her that it wasn't her fault, it was mine.

My chest tightened. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't move. The heart monitor behind me started beeping like crazy, and then turned into one long beeeep. Every second felt like an hour. It was like everything was happening in slow motion.

"OH MY GOD!" Nudge shrieked.

"Mom?" Ella's tone was so anxious, so unlike her usual calm voice. "MOM! What's happening??"

"He's flatlining!" Max yelled.

"Mom! Do something, Mom! _Do_ something!" Ella was hysterical, her voice stifled with sobs.

"Here goes!" screamed Dr. Martinez.

I felt another jolt pass through my body. It was like putting your finger in a socket. I shuddered.

I felt weak, weaker than I had ever felt before. It was as if all the energy had been soaked out of me. I had no power, no control over my body. I just wanted to sleep….

"MOM!" Max and Ella screamed at the same time that Nudge and Gazzy screamed "DR. MARTINEZ!"

"Mom, do something!" Ella cried out. "He's letting himself go!"

She held my hand tighter.

"Iggy, please! Don't let go! You can't let go! I… I _love_ you!"

My eyes flew open. My body trembled. I felt tingly from head to toe.

Love.

Ella had told me she loved me.

That small piece of acknowledgement was all the strength I needed.

The monitor began beeping at a normal rate. Ella, who'd been crying by my side, slowly lifted her head.

"Oh my gosh! Iggy! You're okay!"

She hugged me so hard that she squeezed out the little breath I had in me. I awkwardly patted her back with my frail hand.

She suddenly pulled back, her face red.

"Iggy!" Gazzy shouted. He threw his arms around me.

"Flock hug!" Max yelled, tears of joy streaming down her face.

I was surrounded by people. I tried to sit up.  
"Aghh," I groaned. "What happened? "

No one would answer me. They were too busy crying. I turned my head this way and that, trying to figure out where everybody was from the sounds. Ella, Gazzy, Nudge, Max, and Dr. Martinez were all by my bed. There was a shuffling sound from far away, but I didn't know who that was. Angel perhaps? No, the breathing was too heavy. I suddenly tensed.

"Where am I?" I asked.

Nudge wiped away her tears. "In an ambulance. Dr. Martinez was sure that you would get hurt in the rain, so we jacked one from a hospital and searched for you. When we found you, she said you were too seriously injured to live any longer without some treatment, so she did what she could with Dr. Drew. Oh Iggy, why did you take off like that? Why didn't you tell us where you were going? All of us were so worried…"

She kept ranting on and on about how irresponsible I could be sometimes.

I turn my head toward Max. "I'm smiling," she said. "Jerk. You scared the crap outta me."

"Next time you're gonna take off like that, take me with you," Gazzy huffed, and then for some dramatic effect, says "I'm crossing my arms over my chest."

I laughed.

It was so good to have my Flock back.

**Well, there you go. Another chapter. This chapter was GaGa-inspired. I was listening to Lady GaGa the whole time I was writing, and I like how it turned out. I didn't want to end this chapter with suspense, 'cause I think Iggy and the others have had enough drama for one day, don't you guys agree?**

**By the way, do you guys know how STRESSING AND HARD it is to write this story from Iggy's P.O.V? I mean, I'll write something like "A smile lit up Ella's face," and it'll sound good, but when I re-read it, I'll be like "Iggy can't see! DUHH!" It's really hard you guys. Seriously. I can't believe I put so much work into a story, but I guess that because I'm not normal.**

**I really need you guys' criticism, reviews, ideas, and advice!**

**To my readers: I love you guys! Without you guys, I wouldn't have a reason to continue this story. But I **_**would**_** really like it if some of you wrote reviews when you read it, 'cause I start wondering if the reason I don't get a lot of reviews is because you guys don't like my story. **

**If you don't, tell me what I should change. **

**R&R and I'll give you a cookie. :)**

**More to come.**

**-Nesibe**


	8. Chapter 8

**Before you read this chapter, I should tell all of you that this is NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. THIS IS NOT THE HAPPY ENDING. BIRD KIDS DON'T GET OFF THAT EASILY. Think nothing could possibly get better for Iggy and the Flock? Not in this world. Read on to find out! ;) (I'm sick right now. Don't think I'll be able to go on the internet often. Good thing I've already written up to chapter 12, eh? ....Enjoy, while I go take a nap)**

After the whole lovefest, there were questions to be answered. I fired away, not even bothering to breathe in between my questions. Max chose Nudge as the answerer because she was the one who could go on and on for hours without needing to stop.

"How did you guys find me?"

"Well, it wasn't easy. You flew for quite a while before the storm started. You were really far away from the house. We searched for you for exactly two hours. You were in the middle of this weird forest. Hey, did you know that forests-"

I interrupted her quickly 'cause I knew that once she got started, she wouldn't be able to stop.

"What had happened to me?"

"When you fell, you like, got thrown from tree to tree, and your wings got pretty damaged 'cause they were still open when you were falling. You were pretty battered. You hit your head on this, _really_ really hard rock, and you lost a lot of blood."

I touched my hands and arms and realized that they were covered in scratches, bruises, and some sticky stuff that I assumed was dried blood.

"Am I going to be okay?"

"Dr. Martinez says that your head needs to stay bandaged for a month, but your wings'll be fine in a week. We heal fast. You know that."

I heard a low male voice mumbling something to Dr. Martinez, which reminded me that Nudge had something about another doctor…

I leaned closer to Nudge so that no one else would hear me.

"How can you trust that Drew guy? What if he's one of Them?"

"Don't worry. He's Dr. Martinez's college friend, and one of the CSM people. We met him before, remember? Before we went on the Antarctica mission?"

I shrugged. He was probably just one of those hundreds of people trying to "help us", as they called it, that I'd never trusted, no matter what anyone said.

"They didn't like, stick needles in me, did they?" I shuddered at the thought of needles. They were the reason that a black veil separated the colorful world from my eyes. **(Hey! I just got a great idea for a story when I wrote this. I'll probably start working on it in June or late May, if I have time.)**

"Well?" Nudge asked expectantly, her thirst for words not satisfied yet. "Don't you have any other questions?

"No…" I said undecidedly. There _was_ that one question, but…

_Oh, what the hey_, I thought.

"Hey Nudge?"

"Yeah?"

"Did…You know…when I was unconscious…Did I…Did you hear…?"

She giggled softly.

"It's not all in your head Ig," she said, taking my hand. "Everything you heard was true. It wasn't like, something out of your imagination. All of us heard it." She giggled again. "And it was sooo romantic. I wish a guy would say stuff like that to _me._"

I grumbled about how _this_ was why I usually didn't go to Nudge when I needed advice, and she playfully punched me.

I tried to act like nothing was wrong, but I was all giddy inside.

_Why are you feeling _giddy?_ You should be feeling grossed out by all this mushy-gushy stuff._ So… My macho side had decided to speak up, eh?

_I dunno. Does everyone always know why they're feeling what they're feeling?_ I snapped back.

That shut 'im up.

Today had been so… dramatic, so stressing. I felt a year older after everything I'd went through today. I sighed. Of course I couldn't have even _one freakin' year_ that wasn't full of constant worry.

"Oh, and Iggy? You should probably go talk to Angel. She hasn't uttered one word since you've left the house." Nudge said.

Right. Angel.

I thought about how she must be so… heartbroken and stunned that I'd said all of those things. I hung my head. I didn't want to do this. Not now.

I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Go and apologize to her, kiddo. She's agonized. Wouldn't come out of her room, or finish her dinner." Max said softly.

"Where is she?"  
Sometimes life was so hard without eyesight.

"To the right," she replied.

I walked in a straight line (years of practice) until I could hear Angel's ragged breath, as if she'd been crying but was trying to hide it. I knelt down so I'd be face-to-face with her. (haha.)

"Hey, Ang, you okay?"

She took a deep breath.

"Yeah. Yeah. I'm fine."

I put one hand on her shoulder.

"Look, I'm really sorry about…earlier. I was enraged. You know I didn't mean what I said."

"Yeah…"

"I love you. I love all of you, even when you guys are driving me _nuts_. You're my Flock. You _know_ that there is no way I could ever hate you."

She sniffed.

"Hey, don't I get a hug?" I said playfully. "I _am_ the injured one."

She laughed and put her small arms around me.

"I'm sorry too, Ig," she said softly. "You were right. I had no right to try to force you into doing something you didn't want to." She hiccupped. "I'm a horrible person."

"No you're not," I said. "Everyone makes mistakes, Ang. That's how this messed-up world works. Sometimes you just need someone to open up your eyes to see your error, which is why we always have to look out for each other."

"I'm nodding, Iggy," she said. She stifled a yawn.

"C'mon," I said. "You must be really tired."

"Uh-huh," she replied sleepily. I picked her up, and then groaned inwardly. Damn, she's grown a _lot_ over the year. I put her on my bed-cot thingy and lay down beside her, knowing she'll be able to sleep faster if I hold her hand. She snuggles up to me and in a few minutes I can feel my eyelids getting heavy.

_To hell with the macho man act, _I think. _Who cares about acting emotionally, after everything that happened today?_

I put my arms around Angel and pull her in close. I close my eyes and dose off.

**Emotional chapter! It seems to me that Iggy always tries to act all tough, but has a sensitive side of him that refuses to be ignored, and it's beginning to come out. I think that Angel needs a break from the entire evil take-over-as-leader thing and be a kid again. I am soo tired right now. This chapter isn't even going to get published until Wednesday or Thursday but I was up all night writing it. I REALLY need to get some sleep. **

**Like, seriously. I'm half sleeping as I'm writing this. Arghhh. I wanna go to sleep, but if I do, I'm going to lose all these weirdly cool ideas I got for other MR stories, so I HAVE to stay awake. Pulling all-nighters just to write stories is **_**not**_** fun. I don't recommend it. **

**And… although I've written up to chapter 11, I will only post one chapter on weekdays, and two chapters on weekends. :)**

**Anyways, as always, I would love to hear your ideas, criticism, and advice! **

**R&R please! (I said the magic word!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**NOTE TO READERS: I'm still *trying* to write, 'cause I'm trying to upload at least one chapter a day. I have no idea how it's going to turn out, but I hope it won't be THAT bad. :S**

**BY THE WAY: I was pulling another all-nighter and I fell asleep next to the laptop and the window was open and a psycho mosquito flew in and BIT ME ON THE EYELID and now my left eye is swollen shut. It was such a WTF? moment. I mean, seriously? What kind of mosquito bites you on the eyelid? And if that wasn't enough, I was sleeping with my contacts on and my eyes were going crazy. Ahh. Not a happy day. **

**Alright. Let's do this shizz…**

I'm pretty sure you can guess what happens next. I confess my love to Ella, no more freak scientist experiments gone wrong attack us anymore, Fang comes back, Dr. Martinez adopts us all, and we all live happily ever after?

That wasn't what you had in mind?

Then you're not a complete idiot. You understand that that 2% of bird genes in our body makes life a _little bit_ more than completely insane. We bird-kids almost never get a break. It's like, how things work around here. Scientists make robots, we kick their asses and mock them, we think that everything is finally over, and then it all starts over again. It's like a freakin' cycle.

I don't get scientists, anyways. How hard is it for them to understand that we're not just test tube results? Why can't they squirm in the little fact that we are actual breathing humans with feelings into their humongous brains?

Anyways, I'm getting off-topic.

You're probably thinking, "Hey Iggy, since you guys didn't get your happily ever after, what happened after you guys went home?"

I think I can answer your question…

You see, after we went home, everyone was all happy-go-lucky, we ate pizza, then we went to sleep.

Yeah. Lotsa excitement there. But for me, it was like heaven. After everything that had happened that day, I didn't think I'd be able to take even one more gram of thrill. My head still hurt like hell, and not being able to fly was like not being able to walk. And I _really _didn't wanna see Ella. How do you talk to a girl that just comes clean and tells you she loves you?

What are you supposed to say?

"Yeah Ella. That's really cool. I'm gonna go grab a burger and some fries now. Toodle-oo."

Yeah, 'cause I'm the poster boy for guys who know how to talk to girls. 'Cause I'm on the cover of every teen swoon magazine, and girls collapse when they see me. **(Hate to break it to ya but they actually do, Iggy. You're just way too busy being self-centered to notice it. Do you have any IDEA how many girls want you, even though you're fictional? Don't look at me like that! It's true! *sticks tongue out at Iggy childishly and says "nana nana boo boo!"* I don't know who I like better, so I'm a Figgy girl. :D )**

The next week was spent with me lying in bed complaining that I wasn't a baby and didn't need to be taken care of like one, and Max telling me to shut the hell up, and that if it wasn't for my pigheadedness, she wouldn't _have_ to take care of me in the first place, and me muttering curse words while Nudge fed me.

Once my wings healed, I immediately jumped out of bed and went outside for a little spin with The Gasman. It felt sooo good to have the wind rushing past my ears as the oxygen thinned around me, adrenaline running through my veins.

Back at home, things were kind of… well, _stressed_ is the word for it. I tried to stay clear of Ella, because she had this end-of-school dance thing coming up, and, well, if she asked me, I would completely lose it. I was, as Max called it, still as stubborn as an ox, and if I had to reject Ella one more time without wanting to, I knew that everyone, including my conscience, would give me hell.

I spent the days cooking and working on my eyesight with Gazzy.

One day, as everyone was sitting down to a dinner of roast beef and mashed potatoes, Dr. Martinez suddenly said, "Oh, Ella isn't here. I think she's upstairs. Iggy, would you please call her down?"

"Sure," I grumbled, and got up grudgingly, dragging my feet as I went.

Nudge and Angel giggled as if they were sharing a private joke, and I sent a scowl in the direction of their voices.

I slowly went up the stairs and touched the doors, counting as I went.

"Three...Four. This is it," I mumble, and then slowly knock on the door.

I hear a gruffly voice accompanied by a soft laugh.

Huh?

"Coming!" Ella shouted.

I hear more mumbling, and Ella opens the door, still chuckling.

Her laugh comes to an abrupt stop.

"Oh. It's you." She doesn't say it like she resents it that I'm here. More like, she's ashamed, or embarrassed, like I caught her doing something bad.

"Who's that?" The gruffly voice asks. It's a guy, I can tell that much.

"No one," Ella responds.

No one? _No one?!?_

"I…I'm sorry for interrupting," I say awkwardly. "Um… Dinner's ready, if you want to come down."

"Oh. Okay." Her tone's awkward too.

Who _is_ this punk, and what's he doing here, in Ella's bedroom?

"Hey, who _is_ dude?" The guy asks.

_Just what I was about to ask you, _I think, tensing for an unexplainable reason.

"Umm…" Ella's voice is really uncomfortable. "Paul, this is Iggy, Max's friend. Iggy, this is Paul, my, um, boyfriend."

Her _**what?**_

**Hey hey! Yay! For a while back there, I'd thought that I'd gotten writer's block. Obviously not true! I think this chapter was pretty good. I've told you guys a lot that I love chapters that end intensely. They're just sooo fun to write! :D**

**What do YOU guys think of my chapter? **

**Tell me what you think's gonna happen next in the review section. The button is down there! **

**I LOVE YOU GUYS!  
Oh, and for those who reviewed, I'm sending you a virtual cookie, as promised. ;)**

**Ideas, advice, criticism are all very much welcome!**

**You know how you can contact me (chapters 3 & 4 contain contact info)**

**THIS time, the first person that reviews will get to keep Iggy. :D**

**Keep rocking!  
-Nesibe**


	10. Chapter 10

**Here goes another chapter. Since today's Saturday (weekend), you guys get TWO chapters instead of one. Enjoy. Blegh. I feel sick. Probably won't do anything today but stay in bed and write more chapters! Yay!**

"Nice to meet you," Paul says, and my sensors allow me to hear this swishing sound, like he's holding he's hand out. I take it, thinking of how many possible ways I could end Paul's life with that grip, and shake it.

When did Ella get a boyfriend?

How did she get one?

_Why _did she get one?

My little voice peeped up to answer, but I shushed him right up, not in the mood for any "I-told-you-so"s.

"Um, we better get downstairs before the dinner gets cold, " I mumbled.

"Yeah…" Ella said uneasily.

We slowly go down the stairs, and I hear Paul whisper "Why did he look at me like that? It was like he was looking straight into my soul! How can he keep looking like that without blinking?"

"He's _blind_, Paul," was Ella's hushed response.

I curse at my blindness, like I have so many times. It's a real disadvantage at times. Like now. I really wanna see Paul's face, wanna see what my competition is, and smash my fist into it.

_What competition?_ My little voice is back. _You don't like Ella, right? So there _is_ no competition._

Can little voices in your head sound smug? I believe so.

I scowl.

_Whatever._

"Oh, hey Paul. I forgot you were here," Nudge says as we come in sight. I can't see it, but knowing Nudge, she's smirking.

That little twit. I'll get her back later.

I can hear the scraping of a chair as Paul pulls one up next to Ella's chair.

"I'll get the beef from the kitchen," I mumble.

"I'll help you," Max pipes up.

When we're out of everyone's sight, I turn to Max, lean against the counter, and ask, "When did Ella get a boyfriend?"

"Hmm…" Max says, and I can hear the smile in her voice. "Could it be during the week you completely ignored her?"

"Yeah, yeah. I get it," I say, rolling my useless eyes. "I shouldn't have been so rude. I should've thanked her for supporting me when I was unconscious. I should've given her an apology."

Max huffs.

"Maybe you should've given her more than an apology, hmm?"

"What do you mean?" I ask innocently.

Max sighs.

"You're as stubborn as Angel says you are. Oh, and I'm rolling my eyes at you, just so you know."

"Max, what do you want me to do? She's your _sister,_ for God's sake! Shouldn't you be thinking of her safety? Do you think it would make her safe to…be with me? You should know all about this! Fang left you-us to keep all of us safe!"

Great. Just when Max had gone back to normal, just when she had started coming out of her room every now and then, just when she had started smiling, just when she had stopped crying herself to sleep (or so Nudge said) I _had_ to bring up that subject, even though I knew how sensitive she was about it.

Silence.

"I-You're just-He…" she sighed, then said, "You're right. She's safer without you. But jeez, Ig, don't act like she's not even there. It hurts her. If you want to keep her safe, you obviously care for her, so you wouldn't want to make her sad either, right?"

I nod bashfully.

"Fine," she says. "I'm taking the mashed potatoes, you get the beef."

"Hey Max?" I say.

I hear the rustle of fabric as she turns around.

"Yeah?"  
"Sorry…About bringing Fang up."

"It's okay," she says, chuckling. "He was a useless crapload butthead of a boyfriend, anyway."

I smile, take the tray, and bring it to the dinner table.

I hear Dr. Martinez laugh at something Paul has said, and I mentally growl.

He seems like such a _jerk._

One thing's for sure, as soon as he breaks Ella's heart, which I just _know_ he will do, (Jocks always do. How do I know he's a jock? Well, from the way he walks. Basketball players usually walk with their heel pressed down on the floor and their toes a few inches above the air. It's from running that way.) I'll have a good enough reason to break _him. _

**By the way guys, that fact up there is true, in case you were wondering. People don't usually notice that sort of shi… but **_**I**_ **do. Anyhoo, back to the story.**

I sit down and eat my meal in silence while everybody else chats comfortably with Mr. Perfect.

What do they see in him, anyways?

"So, Iggy, right? You cook?"

I look up. Huh? Is he talking to me?

"Yeah…" I say slowly, not certain where this is going, and not sure if I want to know.

"That's pretty cool, man. Are you like, gonna be a chef when you grow up? That would be a pretty fun job."

Do I hear a sneer in his voice?

Everyone laughs. Everyone besides me.

"Yeah?" I say, raising an eyebrow. "Gee, I don't know Paul. I've just got so many careers to choose from, you know? I'm thinking of joining the Mafia, and if that doesn't work, there's always that open job for guys like me who can kick jocks' asses."

I smile pleasantly.

"What do _you_ wanna be when you grow up?"

"I-uh… I don't know yet."

"Lemme guess," I say, glaring at him. (FYI, blind people _can_ glare. So there.) "You're going to be a big basketball star, grab the girl of your dreams, and cha cha cha your way to happiness. Am I correct?"

"Not quite…" he mumbles.

"What am I missing?" I ask, acting like I'm genuinely interested of how the hell his crappy life is gonna turn out.

"I don't know how to cha cha cha," he mutters.

Everyone laughs at him, and Nudge kicks me under the table.

_Nudge says you should behave nicer, that it's not good manners to be rude to guests_.

It's Angel, sending a thought to me.

_Well, you can tell Nudge to take her manners and shove it up her-_

_Okay, okay, I get it. You're jealous. _Angel interrupts me.

_Am NOT!  
Are TOO!  
SHUT UP!  
NO, _YOU_ SHUT UP AND BE REASONABLE, FOR ONCE!  
_

I sigh. There's no use fighting with Angel, now that she's back to her normal, conquering self.

I push back my chair.

"Well, I'm full. Enjoy your meal," I say, cocking my head in Paul's direction.

_While you can,_ I add in my head.

Nobody tries to stop me as I trod up the stairs.

Every bad word I know runs through my head as I think of Mr. High-and-Mighty Basketball Star.

I lie back in my bed and close my eyes, thinking how it would be _such_ a miracle if I could get things back together like they were back when Ella and I were just friends, Gaz and I would mock Fang and Max, and we'd always had someone on our tails.

I guess dreams don't come true. At least not in _my_ world.

There was a soft knock at the door and I jumped up.

"Can I come in?"

**Oooh, who is it? *HINT* it's not Ella. :D **

**That would be too obvious. Anyways, this was another GaGa-inspired chapter. Whaddaya think? **

**I'm such a devoted author. xD **

**RANDOM FACT: I got like, practically MILLIONS of AWESOME ideas for MR, so I wrote all of them down on little slips of paper and put them in this plastic bucket thingy and every time I want to write a story, I'm gonna select one of them randomly and whatever I chose will be my topic. **

**BTW, Iggy'swife379 e-mailed me asking about me. Well, Iggy'swife379 (IGGY BELONGS TO ME, JUST SO YOU KNOW…) I updated my profile so I could answer your question. You and everyone else who wonders who I am can go check it out.**

**I would be nothing without you guys' advice, ideas, criticism, and questions. You know how you can reach me!  
R&R and I'll love you forever!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter of my weirdly interesting Eggy romaction. I hope you guys have liked the story so far. I've worked so hard for so long on it. I've pulled like, six all-nighters working on it. QUICK QUESTION: When you get your best ideas, which song/artist are you listening to? I get my best ideas when I'm listening to Monster by Lady GaGa. Randomly awkward, I know, but I've been listening to it for hours for about a week now, and I didn't get tired of it yet. Anyways, enjoy!**

It was Nudge's perky voice.

"Yeah, sure," I said.

She closed the door slowly behind her and came to sit on the edge of my bed.

"I know why you're upset," she said slowly, as if she really wanted to rub it in but was afraid to. "You don't like Paul."

"Well, someone give the girl a cookie!" I said sarcastically. "She figured it out!"

She giggled. It was almost impossible for Nudge to be serious, no matter how hard she was trying. You had to really fire her up to get your ass kicked, or to get a long lecture.

"Anyways," she continued. "I just came up to tell you that it's okay to be jealous sometimes."

"What's there to be jealous of?"  
She scoffed.

"Oh, come _on_, Ig. We all saw you at the dinner table. Something like, went off in you. You would've attacked Paul if you could've."

There was a long pause.

"You really care for her, don't you?"  
I shook my head.

"Don't take this the wrong way Nudge, but I wouldn't tell you even if I did, 'cause you just…love this kind of stuff, whereas _I _hate it."

She laughed and playfully slugged me.

"Iggy, you can be so… _different_ sometimes. You know that?"

"Wow, gee, Nudge, could it be 'cause I am completely sightless, or because I'm a bird kid?"

"You know what I mean."

"I don't, actually. Care to explain?"

"It's just that…you have so many different sides. None of us can ever figure out who you are. We can't understand if you're a depressed teen who can't see, or if you're a really good chef that has a lot of talent, of if you're just a naughty kid who likes to mess around with explosives that has a sense of humor and carries the sarcasm too far sometimes. You're like, so many different people combined into one, you know?"

I stayed silent, pondering over what Nudge had just said. Could she possibly be right? Was I really so unpredictable? I had always considered myself less advantaged and stuff, but never spontaneous.

"You amaze me, Ig. You really do."

Whoa. _Nudge_, the chatterbox, was _impressed_, and furthermore, by _me_?

Ha.

Max was Nudge's idol. And one of those teen popstars whose name I hadn't bothered to memorize.

I was one of the guys, one of the people that Nudge was constantly nagging. It stunned me.

"How can you live like that? How can you live with black walls around you, all of them blocking your way to this world? And what's even worse is that you'll never find a way out. There won't ever be an exit for you. You're trapped in the darkness _forever."_

She said that last word so softly that if I hadn't had super-sensors, I wouldn't have heard it.

We all knew Nudge was insanely good at hacking and talking and learning stuff, but I'm sure none of us had ever guessed that Nudge was so _deep._ But then again, Nudge had pretty much said the same thing about me.

You think you know someone…

"It-it's hard, of course, but you guys are what make it bearable," I replied, grinning.

She laughed again.

Time passed.

We both remained silent.

"Nudge? Can I ask you something?"  
"Sure."

"What does Paul look like?"

She chortled and mumbled something that sounded like "_stubborn, jealous fool."_

"Well," she said. "He's tall."

"Of course," I snorted.

She slapped my arm in response.

"_Stop_ interrupting!"

"Fine, fine," I grumbled.

"He's got blond hair that sort of spiky in the front. He has blue eyes and a long nose. Umm… he has a scar on his left cheek, and he doesn't go anywhere without his blue varsity jacket."

I tried to visualize him in my head.

Huh. Typical jock.

"Well?" she asked.

"Well what?" I retorted.

"What do you think of Ella dating Paul?"

"I'm thinking that she should be joyous to be dating such a brainless dimwit. You happy with my answer? It's genuine."

"Whatever you say, Ig."

She bounced off the bed and was out of the room in a flash.

I collapsed back on my bed and thought about what Nudge had said. Nudge could be so… peculiar sometimes, but we had all learned to love her the way she was. Every single word she'd said was echoing in my brain now. She may be right, but for now, all I want is for Paul to leave so I can go apologize to Ella. I'll be getting a chance to talk to her.

I smiled at the thought of Ella.

She was so sweet and innocent, unlike most people I knew. She was just like her mom, always putting others before herself.

_I love you, Iggy!_

It was like having an iPod stuck on replay. I couldn't get those words out of my head. I pulled my blanket over me, closed my eyes, and whispered, "_I love you too."_

I squeezed my eyes shut tighter as the silent tears poured out.

**I think the end of this chapter deserves an "awww" moment. FINALLY! Iggy shows some emotion. All right you guys, I'm gonna go to watch T.V. I hope you take pleasure in reading my story as much as I take pleasure in writing it!**

**If you have any ideas, advice, or any criticism, I would be glad if you shared them with me. **

**(contact info on chapters 3 & 4)**

**If you R&R, I....will...uh, I'll make you an ice cream sundae? :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm back with more! Winged-Vampyre-Gallagher-Girl said that Iggy was mean, and that got me thinking. I never thought of Iggy as mean, just really stressed because no one's been attacking him for like, a month. Usually Iggy's not like this. Which is why Nudge said he had so many sides to him, and that no one could figure him out. Just letting all of you know! :)**

**I also changed my pen name. It's asmileaday77 now. **

**DISCLAIMER: I think I would know if MR belonged to me. It obviously does not. ): It belongs to JP. Yay. Good for him. All right! On with the story!**

"Iggy. Iggy, c'mon dude, wake _up!_"

Gazzy kept shaking me.

"Wake _up,_ Ig!"

I suddenly threw back the covers and got up.

"_What_ is it that's so urgent Gaz?" I mumbled sleepily.

"Fang's what so urgent!"

My body suddenly lost all traces of sleepiness.

"Fang's here?" I shouted.

"No, but he _was," _Gazzy replied.

"What do you mean?"

"He left us a letter."

Just at that moment, Max, Nudge, and Angel entered.

"Someone read what it says before I go nuts," I muttered.

There was a crackle of paper, and Max cleared her throat and began reading, trying-but completely failing-to keep the excitement out of her voice.

_Yo,_

_It's a good thing you didn't go looking for me. I really appreciate that. I'm on a mission. Don't try to stop me. You can't follow me. If I can finish what I set out to do, maybe I'll visit you guys one day. Tell everyone I said hi. Don't let Max cook if you still want to keep living. _

_-Fang_

The short, hasty sentences, the sarcasm, it was all Fang.

"Where'd you find it?" I asked.

"On the doorstep. It was there this morning when Dr. Martinez went outside to pick up the paper," Angel chirped.

"He's such a complete idiot," Max muttered. "And my cooking's not _that_ bad, is it?"

All of us chuckled.

"Aw, come _on_ guys. Seriously? Just because I'm not as talented as Iggy is doesn't mean I'm going to give you food poisoning."

I raised an eyebrow but stayed quiet, not wanting to get my ass kicked.

"Well, I'm going out for a quick spin. Don't come after me. Tell Mom I'll be home in twenty."

All of us stayed quiet as Max left. She was going to look for Fang, as always. She knew her efforts were a waste of time, that Fang was way too stealthy for her, but she still kept hoping, like a true lover.

_Just like her sister, _my little voice chimed in.

_Yeah, I guess you could say that,_ I thought.

I tried to go back to sleep, but Fang was on my mind.

_I'm on a mission_, he'd said.

I'd made Nudge read all of his blogs to me, and I knew about his search for mutants. It hadn't been hard to put two and two together. What I couldn't believe was that no one else had figured it out. Either that, or they were really good actors and wanted to keep this piece of info for themselves.

It was still 9 o'clock in the morning and I really didn't want to go downstairs just to get ridiculed by Mr. I'm –oh-so-popular again. What made him so special that Ella dated him?

Ella. _Ella._

"Oh, shi—," I said, rolling out of bed and hastily putting on a Metallica t-shirt that I _hoped_ was clean. (It _smelled_ clean, but you never know…)

I still had to apologize to Ella.

I hopped on one foot as I put on my socks.

I counted the doors as I went down, and softly knocked on Ella's when I came to it.

"Mmm?" was the muffled response I got.

"Um, it's me, Iggy. Can I come in?"

"Iggy!"

I heard a crash, as if she'd tried to get up from bed, but tripped over something and fallen.

"I'm okay!" she shouted. "I'm coming! Just let me—"

Right. This was a really awkward moment.

The door suddenly opened.

"Hey Iggy," Ella said slowly.

"Hey. Um, I, can I—can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Oh, yeah! Sure! Come in! Um, sorry that my room's such a mess. I've been meaning to clean it up."

"S'okay," I said, not bothering to remind her that I couldn't see the mess, anyways.

"Um, sit down. Here, on the bed," she guided me, her voice anxious.

The springs bounced as she sat next to me.

"I…" I didn't know where to start. "I just came in to tell you that I'm sorry for taking off that day, and for scaring you in the ambulance."

"Oh," her voice faltered. It was like she'd been expecting something more, or something different, at least.

"Um, well, I should go," I said.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Ella suddenly asked, her voice sharp. I'd never seen her like this (heck, I'd never seen her, but you know what I mean…) and I was ready to bet that no one else had, either.

I turned around.

"I don't know what you mean," I said, chin in air.

"You know exactly what I mean," she said, putting as much steel as she could into her voice. She bounced off the bed and came towards me, so that we were eye to eye. (haha. Pun intended.)

I couldn't control the crazy excitement going on inside me. There was only one freakin' _inch_ between us.

_You could close that eensy-weensy inch right now, if you wanted to_, my little voice peeped.

_Get out of my head,_ I growled.

"Ella, I really should be going. I need to help Dr. Martinez with breakfast."

"Oh no," she said, firmly gripping my arm. The touch sent shivers through me. Her grasp was like a white hot iron. I wondered if fire was going through her body as well. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me why you keep blowing me off every chance you get, but go practically wild when you see me with someone else."

"I—that's not true!" I said defiantly.

"Is too," she said, her voice just as defiant.

She leaned in closer to me, her nose touching mine.

"Don't do this to me, Iggy," she said softly.

She closed the gap between us.

My heart pounded faster.

_This is it_, I thought.

**WOOHOO! Finally, we're gonna see some romance! Or are we? Haha, I don't know either. I don't plan out my stories; I just start them, and watch where they go.**

**YOU GOT ANY advice, ideas, criticism, or questions? (contact info on chaps 3 and 4)**

**R&R please?**

**Keep reading to find out what happens next!**

**You guys rock!**

**Thanks for reviewing!  
-Nesibe ;]**


	13. Chapter 13

**I bet you're just dying to know what happens next. You're not? Oh, okay. Fine then. :(**

**Haha. Jk. Read on, buddy.**

Ella was so close that her breath was mingling with mine. I closed my eyes, ready to kiss her. I put my arms around her waist, and she grasped my hair with hers.

My eyes suddenly flew open. My brain had finally started functioning and had sent a warning message throughout my body. I pulled back, enraged at myself, at Ella, at the world.

"What do you think you're doing?" I rumbled.

"I—You—isn't this what you'd wanted?" she asked, confused.

"This isn't about what I want!" I barked. "Ella, you have a _boyfriend!_ You can't just _cheat_ on him!"

"But—I—you said—," she sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry."

She let her arms fall to her sides.

"Let's go downstairs," she said regretfully.

_Why did you do that?_ My little voice demanded to know.

_No matter how much I love her, we just can't be together. And she already has a boyfriend. I won't allow myself to ruin her relationship just because _I _think her boyfriend's a total idiot._

I knew what I had done was right. You can't just go kissing other guys' girls. It just doesn't work that way.

We ran downstairs, as if trying to get as far away as possible from what had just happened.

I knew I was blushing, and I was sure that Ella was too.

When we reached the table, everything was a total chaos, as it always was. Nudge and Angel were bickering about this new T.V. show or whatever; Max was giving The Gasman a lecture about why no explosives were allowed in the house. (How many times had Gazzy gotten that lecture? Too many times to count…) Paul was chatting easily with Dr. Martinez.

I felt myself stiffen as I heard his voice. Why was he here? Had he become like, a permanent member of the family?

"Iggy! Thank God you're here!" Dr. Martinez exclaimed.

"What happened?" I asked, tensing.

"Gazzy put an explosive pill in the omelet and it blew up. Can you fix us something to eat please?"

"Sure," I said, shooting a half-grin and a wink in the direction of Gazzy's voice. That was my boy, always ready with an explosive. I took him by his arm and led him into the kitchen so Dr. Martinez and Max wouldn't see us.

"High five, man!" I yelled, laughing.

After we'd stopped laughing, I bent down so my eyes would be level with his (I know, I know, I can't see, but speaking with someone eye to eye is a bit more dramatic.)

"Seriously, though, why did you do that when Paul was here?"

"I dunno. I'm shrugging. I thought he was a cool guy and all, but after the stuff he said to you, I realized that he was a dirtbag. You're not mad, are you? He totally deserved it. And he can't steal your girl like that. That's just not cool."

My girl? When had Gazzy started to think that Ella was _my girl??_

"Nah, I'm not mad. I could never be mad at you," I said, smiling. "But go clean things up before Max seriously gives you a head injury or something for being 'impolite', okay?"

"Okay," he said, then left.

I opened the refrigerator and let my nose lead me to an unopened packet of sausages.

_These'll do, _I thought.

I got out a clean frying pan, a cutting board, and some oil.

I cut up the sausages into little rings, humming as I worked.

"Hey dude."

I whirled around, my knife held in the air.

"What do you want?" I asked harshly.

Leave it to Paul to come here and bother me.

"I just wanted to see how you were cooking," he said innocently.

Someone must be with him, or he wouldn't be continuing his little act.

"He just wanted to see," Ella said softly.

_Of course he did_, I thought, mentally rolling my eyes.

"You go talk to Max," Paul says. "I just wanna watch for a couple of minutes."

"Okay," Ella says hesitantly.

She knows as well as I do that as soon as she's gone, I'm going to rip Paul's throat out.

I can hear the sound of her feet shuffling as she slowly leaves.

As soon as she's gone, Paul grabs my collar and pulls me so close to him that I can smell his breath: garlic and something that smells like cumin. Ugh. How can Ella kiss this guy without needing to yak?

"Listen _punk_, I can see what you're trying to do. Everyone may think that you're just a friend of Ella's, but you can't fool me. I know you like Ella, but she's _mine._" He chortles. "At least until Chloe Ryan decides that she wants me again."

My brain is spinning. He's _using_ Ella to get to another girl? I _knew_ it. I _knew _it, I knew it, I knew it.

That son of a…

I push him back, and he staggers. I grab his shirt and throw him back. He hits the wall I can hear plates shattering, and plaster falls all around us.

"No, _you_ listen, 'punk'," I roar. "You keep your hands off Ella or I'll beat the crap out of you until you're at my feet, begging for mercy!"

"Oh yeah?" he says, and I can feel a challenge coming up. I'll take anything that that douchebag offers just to keep Ella safe. "Show me what you got, pretty boy," he sneers.

"You. Me. Outside. Now," I growl.

"All right," he says, just as everyone else comes into the kitchen.

"Oh my goodness!" Dr. Martinez exclaims. "What in God's name happened here?"

"Omigosh!" Nudge squeals.

"Iggy!" Ella says, running forward. She touches my face. "Are you all right?"

"I will be as soon as I finish up this douche," I snarl.

"_No."_

It's Max. She steps forward.

"You guys are _not_ going to fight."

"Oh yeah?" I say. "Who's gonna stop me?"

She cracks her knuckles.

"I will, if I have to."

Paul doubles over with laughter.

Max's long hair slaps my face as she swivels around. I know she's furious. She's the toughest one out of all of us.

"What's so funny, Paul?" she asks.

"_You're_ gonna beat us up?" He scoffs. "Yeah, right. Girls can't fight."

I hear Max take a slow breath, and I know that she's trying to control her anger.

"Aww, how _sweet,_" she says, sarcasm oozing from her voice. "You made a funny. Well, jockstrap, I'll give you all the proof you need tomorrow in the back alley of (I'm not going to mention where, obviously. Nothing personal.)"

"Okay," Paul says mockingly. "I'll bring my friends so they can see this live."

"Okay," Max agrees. "I'm sure they'll have a hell of a time seeing you get your ass kicked. _And_, if you lose, you can fight with Iggy."

He's made Max so mad that she's gonna let me fight him. Sweet.

"No problem," Paul jeers.

Max turns again, and like before, her long hair swishes across my face.

"Oh, and Paul? Tell your friends to bring popcorn and video cameras. It might take a while."

Max is the most dominating, pain-in-the-ass leader in the world, but sometimes I love her for it. Like, right now.

"Hurry on, now," Max says, dismissing Paul. "You should go lift weights or something. You're gonna need all the strength you can get."

She turns back to me and whispers, "This isn't over yet. You're in big trouble for fighting, ruining the kitchen, and trying to stop me."

…And sometimes I hate her leadership. Like, right now.

**Haha. Pretty good chapter, in my opinion. What do you guys think? It' so Max-ish to get angry over something like that and fight Paul. **

**Anyhoo, advice, criticism, questions, and ideas are very much considered necessary. :D**

**(contact info on my profile or chapters 3 or 4)**

**If you R&R, I will be a very happy girl!**


	14. Chapter 14

**First of all, I would like to thank dancerbell12 and BookHunter for reviewing! You guys really and truly rock! :D Secondly, I would like to ask: HOW MANY PEOPLE JOINED THE FANG COMPETITION FOR THE MISSING CHAPTER?? I did! When the results come out, I'll post it on fanfic so you guys can read it. I would really like your opinion on it! Let's get back to the story now…:]**

"Ready?" Max asked.

I bent down to tie my shoelaces, nodded, and smiled evilly at the thought of beating Paul to a pulp and humiliating him in front of his jock friends.

"Yup."

"All right. Let's do this."

I grabbed my jacket and ran out the front door to catch up with Max. Damn, she was infuriated. I liked it.

"Hey, aren't we gonna fly there?" I asked.

"Nah," she replied. "We gotta make a grand entrance. Let them laugh their asses off. They won't be laughing when we beat 'em up."

She had a point. Max had chosen the best place for a fight. We entered the abandoned alleyway. It was a perfect place to watch someone get their ass kicked too.

I didn't say anything 'cause I knew that Max would puff up like a puffer fish if I'd told her. I just silently walked, looking straight ahead at the nothingness in front of me while all the guys who'd came to watched jeered, mocking us and laughing.

"Assholes," Max muttered under her breath. I felt her stiffen, and knew that she was ready to kick ass.

**(By the way: who's seen that movie? Is it good? I wanna watch it! Kick ass seems interesting…)**

I held her back and mumbled, "Save it for the fight. They're not worth it anyways."

"You're right," she agreed.

"Hey douchebag!"

Great. Paul had arrived.

"You ready?" Max asked, and I knew that she was just itching to beat him up with just one easy move, but even she knew that we needed a good demonstration.

"Uh-huh. I hope you're ready too. As you can see, I invited the whole team. You'll be their hero if you, by some stroke of luck, win."

Max snorted.

"I won't be needing any luck, unlike you."

"Come on!" Some random guy yelled. "Start the freakin' fight already! We didn't pay twenty bucks for this crap!"

"You made them pay you?" Max and I snarled at the same time.

Paul scoffed.

"A guy has to make a living _somehow_."

Max turned on her heal, and I heard the dry leaves crackle beneath her feet.

"Yo. The name's Max and I'm here to kick this dude's butt." There was a roar of laughter. Max ignored it. "If I win, my friend Iggy over there is gonna get a go at him. And if he also wins, Paul has to give all of your money back. Sound good to you guys?"

Everyone cheered.

"During this demonstration, I will name each of my moves so that Iggy, who's sightless, will know what I'm doing."

"He's _blind?_" another guy asked. "This is too good to be true."

All of his friends laughed in agreement. I just shook my head. These guys were total idiots. Oh well, maybe they'd learn something new today.

The crowd did a countdown.

"THREE! TWO! ONE!"

I heard a swishing noise and a grunt.

"Oh no!" Max said in mock fear. "Are you okay? Sorry, I'm pretty good at jumping."

I was guessing Paul had charged at her and she'd flown up.

"Here, lemme give you a hand." I heard a loud crash and leaves flew everywhere. She'd flipped him on his back. "This, folks, is my infamous Boulder Crash. See, you just take the guy by his feet like this, and you fling him around," I heard Paul screaming. "And then you just let go! Whoa, daddy, look at 'im go! He's flying!"

There was another loud crash and the ground shook as Paul fell to the floor.

The crowd booed.

"Go get 'er man!"

"What the hell? You gettin' beat up by a girl?"

"Loser!"

I chuckled. This was probably Paul's worst day ever. I, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying it.

Paul yelled and charged at Max again.

"Time for a little bit more physical contact. Ooh, he's trying to punch me." I heard a loud "SNAP!" and knew that Max had grabbed his fist and twisted it around the wrong way.

"You broke my hand!" Paul shrieked it pain.

"Don't worry," Max assured him. "It'll heal in a couple of days. My mom's a veterinarian, as you know. She takes care of animals like you. You should probably let her bandage you up after we're done."

The crowd _ooh_ed. Even _I_ had to laugh, even though Max's wit usually drove me nuts.

The leaves crackled once again as Paul staggered.

"Oh, God, you're so terrifying!" Max said mockingly. "Look! Aww, he still hasn't given up."

I heard Paul's breath, ragged and heavy. He grunted with every swing of his fist. He was still trying to land at least one punch on Max.

There was a _woosh_ and I realized that Max had jumped up again, and landed on Paul's back.

"Sorry pal, but game over."

The crowd went wild. Everyone was dissing Paul for being such a "ninny" and telling Max that she fought "just like a dude."

"All right, all right! Calm down!" Max yelled. "Guess Paul lost to me, but he has to get beaten up by Iggy too, so you guys can get your money back. Whaddaya say? Should we give the fellow a break, or shall we proceed to the next match?"

All of the basketball players hooted when they heard the second option.

"All right," Max said. "Next match it is. Yo Iggy! C'mere!"

I got up from my seat and walked next to Max.

"Iggy here is one of my best friends, and the second best fighter I know, despite that he can see zilch. Is that true talent or what?"

The crowd roared.

"Got anything you wanna say to these people, Ig?"

"Yeah. Don't be an asshole like Paul and I won't kill you in your sleep."

Everyone cheered.

I turned around and walked right up to Paul, who was lying on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Ready for the fight of your life?" I growled.

**YAYYY! I like it when dudes fight for girls! Call me lame/cheesy/whatever, but I find it extremely romantic. Ha. I just read my story from beginning up to this chapter, and I just thought that it would make a great movie. Lotsa action. Lotsa romance. Lotsa ass-kickin'. What else does a good movie need? **

**Anyhow, advice, ideas, criticism, and questions are important to me.  
(contact info on profile or chapters 3 or 4, whichever one you prefer)**

**Oh, and for my readers who like art, I'm a real artsy person, and maybe you might wanna check out this project I've got going on in Flickr. (additional info in my profile)**

**Keep being awesome!**

**And don't do drugs. Drugs are for douchebags.**

**And don't forget to R&R!  
-Nesibe**


	15. Chapter 15

**Here's another chapter for you guys to read and review! Thanks to my faithful reviewers! =) I'd be absolutely nothing without you guys!**

Paul has to use both hands to get up. Dang, Max beat him up good. I turn to our audience. I'm not as wild as Max about all the show-offy stuff, but I've got a few words to say, too.

"All I wanna ask is," I say slowly. "How can you be friends with this idiot?"

A hush falls over the crowd.

"Seriously," I continue, pacing. "Has Paul ever done anything nice for any of you? Has he ever done _anything_ besides bothering other people?"

The silence continues.

"That's what I thought," I say, grinning. "Who says it's time to finish this douche once and for all?"

Everybody cheers. I bend on one knee and whisper in Paul's ear, "Hear that? Your fans are wild for you."

He grunts and gets up.

"All right!" he barks. "Let's get this over with!"

"THREE! TWO! ONE!"

Knowing that Paul, not learning anything from his experience with Max, will charge at me, I jump up about ten feet in the air and come down with one hand on the ground, an evil grin on my face.

"That's the best you got?" I sneer.

Paul utters some curse words that I'm not gonna repeat in case there's young readers nearby.

He's like an enraged bull. Nothing can stop him. He doesn't even stop to think of some logical reason for what he's doing. He's just yelling and running towards me over and over. I get bored really fast.

Really?

I'd expected better from him.

"Let's give this fight a bit of excitement, okay?" I shout.

The crowd shouts their approval.

From the sound of his breathing, I can tell where Paul's going to charge from now. I put both of my fists in front of my face and jog in place. Right when he's a couple inches from my face, I throw out my right fist, then my left, and then both at the same time. I can feel the skin splitting under my hands.

"You should think of a face lift after this fight's over," I say.

"Argh!" Paul yells. He tries to punch me, but I'm too fast for him. I dart between his legs and shake my butt at him.

"Yo Paul! Over here!"

He darts forward, absolutely sure that's he's got me now. I nonchalantly stick one leg out and the huge mass of beef falls to the ground. I put one foot on his cheek and pull his hair.

"You had enough?" I snarl.

He doesn't answer.

"I _SAID_, HAVE YOU HAD ENOUGH?" I bellow.

Paul whimpers.

"Well," Max says. "There you go folks. Paul O'Keef, your_ previously_ most popular guy at school, has gotten beat up by a girl _and_ a blind dude, all in the course of fifteen minutes. And if that isn't embarrassing enough, he hasn't even been able to land _one freakin'_ punch on either one of them. I think we both deserve some applause."

Everyone starts clapping and Max and I bow.

"I thought the fight would've been longer. Damn, Max, you really beat him good," I say.

Just when I'm sure that we're going to do an up-and-away, I hear a voice behind me.

"Iggy, what have you _done?"_

Ella!

**Short chapter. Eh, it's still a chapter. WARNING: The next two chapters will be short too. Don't beat me up. But there's a LOT of excitement coming up. I thought it was pretty good. I'm tired. I want yogurt. And your advice, criticism, ideas, questions, and reviews.**

**Oh, and I posted up my new story. It's called "In The Dark" and it's about Fang and... well, I don't wanna ruin it. I'm sure you MR fans would really like it. You can find it under my profile! **

**Please R&R (for this story, and that)!**

**~N~**


	16. Chapter 16

**Usually I write something before I begin the chapter, but I'm all out of words. (The ones you see down there aren't mine, they're Iggy's words.) so.. Just read :)**

I slowly turned around, my heart beating so fast that I was sure it would just pop out of my chest any moment.

"Iggy, why did you do this?" Ella asked incredulously.

"Uh…"

"Wait, did you do this for _me?"_ she said disbelievingly.

"Yeah…Are you mad?" I grimace, waiting for a _yes._

"No…I'm not mad, I'm just surprised. I never even thought for one second that you would do something like this for me," she said softly.

She walks past me. The leaves crunch with every step she takes. She stops by the panting figure that was once known as Paul, but now would be called "train wreck."

"Hey Paul," she says cheerfully. "What's up?"

"Ella, baby, help me get up," he groans.

"No," Ella replies lightly.

"What do you mean 'no'? You're my girlfriend."

"Yeah, actually, that's what I came here to tell you. Consider yourself dumped, Paul. Goodbye."

She skips back to where I'm standing, my mouth open in shock. Who would've guessed that Ella was capable of such a thing?

She takes my hand.

"So," she says. "I don't have a boyfriend anymore."

"No," I reply. "I guess not. Tell me something, Ella. Why did you even go out with him in the first place?"

Suddenly Ella's really quiet.

"Well, wasn't it obvious?" Her breezy tone is back. "I did it to make you jealous." She playfully slugs me.

I turn towards her, inching closer to her body.

"And why would you want to make _me_ jealous?" I ask, already knowing the answer but wanting to hear it again from her.

"Because I love you," she says softly.

"Thanks," I say, grinning. "I get that a lot."

She doesn't answer.

"What? Is there something else you wanted to hear?"

"No. Well, yeah. Kind of," she mutters sarcastically.

I hear a loud thunderclap.

"Do I have to tell you?" I mumble.

"It's so hard to understand you, Iggy," she says.

"What I meant was, can I show you instead?"

I don't wait for a respond. I take her face in both of my hands and bring my lips to hers.

"Mgmbh!" Ella tries to speak, surprised at what I've just done. She flails her arms around, but eventually lets herself go. Her arms fall to her side and lets herself go. I hug her close to me as raindrops start pelting us. She twists my wet hair as we finally do what we've both been waiting for so long.

"It's about time," Nudge mumbles.

When did _she _get here?

I try to forget everything. Soon there is nothing in the world but Ella and me.

Our kiss is long and soft. It's everything and nothing like I'd imagined it would be. It's perfect. This moment is perfect. _She's_ perfect.

We break free, and I stroke her cheek.

"I love you too, Ella," I say softly. "I always have and always will."

I kiss her again and hug her tightly, not wanting to let go, as the rain soaks us.

**Yay! We finally get to see some romance! Sorry for keeping you guys waiting for so long, but that's what a good author does! Although this chapter is short, it's sweet and I think it deserves an "aww" moment. **

**Oh, if any of you are wondering, this is NOT THE LAST CHAPTER. Oh no. This story's not quite over yet. There's still a lot of drama and action that needs to happen. Just keep on reading!  
**

**Oh, and new MR story about what happens to Fang. It's quite interesting. I recommend you read it. :)**

**Advice, criticism, questions, and ideas are always welcome!**

**Please R&R!**


	17. Chapter 17

**YAYY! The teacher just announced that we won't have school tomorrow so I'm gonna sit down with some strawberry yogurt, or some tea, and write chapters. BUT you still get only one chapter tomorrow. Sorry. Authors have to keep their readers hanging, which is why I waited SO long to make Ella and Iggy kiss, 'cause that's what good authors do. Read on!**

All of us walked back home, soaking wet. Obviously the rest of the Flock had decided to "drop in" to see the damage we'd caused. I held Ella close to me as Nudge jabbered on and on about how we were both really stubborn, and that it had taken us so long to get together, and whatever. I stopped listening after the first two sentences, knowing she'd go on and on forever.

When we reached the house the door swung open and Dr. Martinez came running out.

"Oh my goodness! What happened to you children?"

"It's okay, Mom," Max said. "We're just wet from the rain."

"Come in before you catch a cold," she said, scolding us. She suddenly stopped talking as we stepped on the porch, my arm around Ella's waist.

"Um, Iggy, any reason why you're holding my daughter like that?" she asked, a hint of a smile in her voice.

"They're officially a couple now!" Nudge blurted out. She and Angel giggled like madwomen.

I inwardly groaned. Reason number 562 why Nudge kinda sucked sometimes.

"Is that so?" Dr. Martinez asked, and I could just see her raising an eyebrow, a bemused smile on her face.

"Uh, I—yeah," I mumbled.

She laughed.

"Took you two long enough," she said.

She ushered us inside and made us all sit in front of the fire. I let myself go as the fire warmed me to my very bones. Ella yawned beside me and put her head in my lap. I stroked her hair as she fell slowly asleep.

_You did the right thing Iggy._ Angel's sudden thought scared the crap out of me. I'd never get used to her unexpectedly popping into my thoughts.

_Yeah. Too bad it took me so long to figure it out._

_You're gonna be okay. Both of you are gonna be just fine, _she thought.

_Oh no,_ Angel thought.

"Um, Max?"

"Hmm?" she mumbled sleepily.

"I feel something weird."

"Like what?" she said, suddenly alert and wide awake.

"I don't know yet. I'm picking up on some really bad thoughts. I—I don't know who they're coming from."

"Could it be Dr. Gummy Haagen Dazs?"

"No. He's in Brazil doing a search on half-monkey people right now."

"No Erasers or Flyboys?"

"Mmm… No. These are human thoughts. And when I meant bad, I meant like, whoever it is knows something terrible is gonna happen, but he isn't trying to hurt us. It's getting closer."

The door suddenly banged open.

"Get down on the floor right now!" a familiar voice yelled.

Fang?

**Why are my chapters so freakin' short again? Just when I'd gotten used to writing long, exciting chapters, something happened, and now I'm writing them all short and choppy again. **

**Writer's block, perhaps?**

**Hmm…**

**R&R? :)**

**Oh, and please check out my new Fang story. It's called In The Dark and it's hella tight. :D**


	18. Chapter 18

**Yikes! Fang's back? But why? O.o Read on to find out!**

"Fang!" Max yelled. She got up and ran toward him, her feet thudding against the wooden floor.

"Get _down," _he growled.

Everyone dropped down on the floor just as a loud BOOM was heard and all of us were thrown back. All of us were suddenly covered in plastic and some gooey thing I didn't even w_ant_ to identify.

Max was the first to get on her feet, and I knew that she was checking the damage.

"Report," she said, coughing from all the dust.

"I'm okay," Gazzy said from somewhere behind me. "Covered in this weird slime, bleeding, but okay."

"I'm okay too," I said. "Got a few bruises, that's all."

"Oh my gosh!" Nudge said, running in. "I was getting cookies with Angel! What happened here?"

I shook my head.

Something was wrong. Someone was missi—

"Ella!" I shouted. "Ella, where are you?" I moved my hands through the piles of rubber, straining my eyes to hear any little sound, any small movement.

"Iggy?" she mumbled sleepily. "What just happened?" I guess she must've taken in her surroundings because she screamed, "Oh my goodness! Is everybody okay?"

"No," Angel said slowly.

"_Angel,"_ Fang said warningly. What the hell was going on? God, couldn't I just get a new pair of eyes at Wal-Mart or something? All this 'not being able to see' crap really sucked sometimes.

"He burned his hand," Angel said.

"Oh my God," Max exclaimed. We all rushed towards the fireplace where, from the heavy breathing, I assumed Fang was sprawled on the floor. We all crowded around him, all of us firing questions at him at once.

"Where _were_ you?"

"Why did you come back?"

"Are you back forever?"

"How did this happen to you?"

"Why did you take off like the buttheaded boyfriend that you are?"

"I'm not telling, because I knew that you guys were in danger, no, because I was standing next to the door when the bomb exploded, so I got thrown towards the fireplace and burned my hand, and because I had no choice, Max," he said, trying to answer all of our questions.

"Bomb? What bomb?" Ella said, running up to us.

"Ella! Are you okay?" I said, taking her face in my hands.

"No cuts, no bruises. I'm fine," she reassured me.

I hugged her close to my chest and kissed the top of her head.

"Whoa," Fang muttered. "I leave for two months and suddenly—"

"Gazzy!" Dr. Martinez exclaimed, entering the room. "What have you done? I thought we'd agreed that there would be no more experimenting with explosives in this house!"

"It wasn't him," Fang said quietly.

"Well then, who was—," she stopped abruptly. "Oh my God! Fang, you're back! What happened to your hand? We'd better get that fixed up, but can somebody _please_ tell me what's going on in here?"

"Max," Angel whispered. "We've got company."

We didn't need to hear anything more. Everyone flew up to the roof, ready to seriously kick some butt after such a long time. All of us needed the exercise. Paul hadn't counted because he wasn't some regenerated, crazy experiment designed to crush us.

"Mom, take Ella inside and go to the basement! Don't come back up!" Max yelled.

"Holy cow," Gaz said, awed.

"What? What's going on? Can s_omebody _tell me what we're up against?

Angel sent a mental picture to my head.

Holy freakin' crap.

These things were _huge,_ probably eight or nine feet. They were something between a lizard and a man. They had glowing red eyes, weird green spikes going down to their spines, and light green skin covered in scales. They were armed with guns I'd never seen (haha) before in my life, and were standing on these levitating hexagon things that kept rising.

ReptileBots, that was the suitable name for these freaky things.

To sum it up, it was not a pretty sight.

And the worst part?

They were coming right towards us.

**AHHH! These things scare even ME, and *I* made them! You get two chapters tomorrow, so you'll find out what happens next! Oh, and while you're on a roll, why don't you go check out my new Fang story? It's called "In The Dark," and you can find it under my stories in my profile. I like it, and I hope that you will too. **

**Oh, and, I realized something SECONDS after I uploaded my chapter yesterday: since Dylan was sent off to Hawaii by yours truly, how the heck does the Flock know about Dr. Gunther-Hagen ?(Max mentions him). Well, I decided that he's gonna be a physco billionaire who keeps following them, hoping that one day, they'll accept his offer to "regenerate" them.**

**Happy?**

**:D**

**Please send me your advice, criticism, questions, and ideas.**

**I love all my awesome reviewers who R&R, and those who read my stories. **

**Please review!**

**-Nesibe**


	19. Chapter 19

**QUICK QUESTION: What was your fave chapter so far? I haven't decided on mine yet…They're all so intense.**

"Eek," Nudge squeaked.

"Are you picking up on anything, Angel?" I whispered.

"No. They've completely blocked their minds. There's like, a wall that I can't get through," she said, surprised.

"All right, Flock. You know what to do," Max said slowly, in case these ReptileBots were programmed to understand everything around them. I could practically see her, tensed, still ready for some action, her eyes glued to the Bots as she gave us orders. "Go for the weapons first, and then knock 'em off the flying thingies. Let's see how well these things can fight."

I wanted to bang my head on a table. Couldn't we _ever _get a break?

"When I give the go, I want you to attack," Max said from the corner of her mouth.

"_One," _she whispered.

Everyone got in position.

"_Two."_

We put on our toughest faces as the Bots neared. I strained my ears, trying to make out which Bot was the nearest to me and how I could take him down.

"To your left," Nudge said in a low voice. "A roundhouse kick'll knock the weapon out of his hands, and then push him off."

"Thanks," I said, giving her a small smile.

"GO!" Max suddenly shouted. I turned my body to the left and landed a roundhouse kick in the Bot's shins. The gun clattered as it dropped somewhere down on the roof. Without waiting, I kicked him in the chest with all my might. He lost balance and went spiraling down.

I heard a loud thud as he fell and flew down.

"Let's get this over with," I muttered.

_Let's hope he doesn't shoot lasers out of his eyes or something_, I thought to myself grimly.

I dodged this way and that as the Bot swung his humongous arms at me.

"You wanna play hard, eh? I can play hard," I said, an evil smile creeping onto my face.

I launched myself into the night air and circled over the Bot until he fell. They might be big and armed, but they weren't designed to be very smart.

I took him by his feet, whirled him a couple of times, and let go.

"Up, up and away!" I shouted. "How does it feel like to really fly?"

I had no time to do a little victory dance because just then, another ReptileBot attacked me from behind. I blindly (bad pun intended) punched, trying to hit something. My fist made contact with the Bot's hand, and he grabbed me and flipped me on my back.

I held my head as I tried to raise myself and found that I was bleeding.

I groaned.

Perfect. Just the cherry on the ice cream sundae.

My head was throbbing like _crazy_, as if I'd cracked my skull open or something. My hands followed the trail of blood until I found the source. The skin above my right eyebrow had split open from the force of the fall. My whole black world started to spin.

"Here's a lesson for you," I grunted angrily. "Don't. Ever. Mess. With. A. Bird-Kid." I kicked him with every word.

I brought my hand down on his head, adding a "Hai Ya!" just because I find it amusing to scream like a madman when I'm tearing my enemies apart.

You're not the first to call me diabolical.

His head slowly split open, the wires fizzed and hissed, and I could imagine his glowing red eyes slowly turn black as he powered down.

I turned my head to the right, and then the left, listening to my family being just as diabolical as I was a few seconds ago. Nudge was fighting like crazy in front of me, screeching "Karate Chop!" Max was somewhere to the right, shrieking like an ax murderer. I knew she was in serious kick-ass mode. Gazzy was imitating the weird noises coming from the Bots, attracting them to him, placing explosive bombs on them, and laughing hysterically as they all blew up, one by one.

"Gazzy!" Max shouted. "Enough with the explosions!"

Gazzy was quiet, and I knew he was looking at me, waiting for me to say something.

I shrugged. "The house is pretty much blown up, anyways. You've got nothing to lose."

"Yeah!" he exclaimed.

"Nice going, Ig. You're a real role model," Max said, grunting as she fended off more Bots. Angel and I rushed to her side, warding off as many Bots as we could.

"Damn!" I yelled over all the noise. "How many of these things _are_ there?"

"Um, like, two hundred-ish?" Max guessed.

Dang. Whoever wanted us obviously wanted us _bad._

This went on for another hour and a half. The ReptileBots attacked us, we showed them some fist, and then more Bots came along.

_An endless cycle,_ I thought bitterly.

Just when I was ready to surrender, I noticed something: there were no more beeping and whirring noises, no more weird, jerky robotic sounds of the Bots' moving joints.

"Stop!" Max shouted, her voice thick with dust. She fell to the floor with a loud thud. All of us crowded around her.

"Last…Bot…dead…need…water," she panted.

"I'll get her some water!" The Gasman volunteered, rushing inside.

As soon as the cool water was down her throat, Max was up and checking each of us.

"Let's see if Mom can fix that," she murmured when she came to me, slowly touching my bleeding head.

She suddenly froze.

"Oh _crap_," she mumbled. She whirled around and ran to the right, then to the left, and then started going around in frantic circles.

I listened to the sound of her thudding feet, trying desperately to figure out where she was headed to.

"Fang?" she yelled desperately. "FANG!"

Aw, crap. That jerk was long gone, wasn't he?

"It's no use, Max," Angel said quietly. "Fang left as soon as the last Bot was dead."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Max shrieked. There was a whooshing sound as she picked up Angel and started shaking her.

I sighed.

Not this again.

"Max!" Nudge exclaimed, frightened. "Let Angel go!"

She dropped Angel and crumbled to the floor, a sobbing mess.

"I'm so sorry, you guys," she said, choking on her own words. "It's just that he came, and I didn't even get a chance to—" she broke down, so weak that she couldn't even finish her sentence, and let the tears roll freely down her cheeks.

Every tear that hit the ground was as loud as a bomb, and echoed a million times in my head.

Every sob was another dagger stabbing itself into my heart.

"Hey, hey," I murmured, hugging her. "It'll be all right. It always is."

That made her cry even harder, her tears soaking my dirty shirt. She held onto me, coughing from all the dust and hiccupping.

I held her close to em, enraged at Fang. He should've at least said goodbye. He'd left Max as a mess. Max, who didn't cry even if all her bones were broken, was sobbing hysterically over the stupid jackass.

We didn't want to see her like this.

Max, tough-as-nails Max, didn't want us to see this either.

She was the one that never gave up, the one who was the strong one, the one who loved us but would give us a month of washing the dishes if we didn't clean our rooms.

She was the leader.

Leaders didn't cry.

"It's okay," I said, stroking her hair. "Love is a dangerous, hurtful thing."

She just buried her head in my shirt, her shoulders shaking as she tried to stop the fresh new tears that were coming along.

Just minutes ago, she had been kicking and punching furiously, nothing on her mind except for the fact that the Bots had to be demolished.

Now, she was like a typical teenage girl, pouring out all of her heart's misery over a boy who was too much of a **(I will beep Iggy here, since I may have young readers)** to see how much it hurt her—us.

"I am gonna kick his ass _so _bad he's gonna fly to Turkey. And he won't be needing his wings," I said furiously.

She laughed a little, and then wiped her tears.

"Flock hug!" Nudge shouted.

Gazzy, Angel, and Nudge all crowded around Max and me and we all shared a long, warm hug.

"Max!" Dr. Martinez shouted as she joined us. "What were those things? Who sent them? Are you guys hurt?"

Max broke free of us and hugged her mom.

"We're fine," she said reassuringly. "Some minor cuts and scratches. Nothing worse than the usual."

"Have you been crying?" she said softly. "Where's Fang?" she asked knowingly.

It surprised me how much moms could know. Sometimes I wished _my_ stupid parents were like Dr. Martinez.

"Iggy!" Ella yelled, running up to me and planting a kiss firmly on my lips.

My eyes got all wide, but I responded to the kiss, hugging her.

"I should totally put this on YouTube," Nudge muttered. "It would be a total hit."

Angel giggled.

I sighed, leaning my forehead against Ella's.

Leave it Nudge to ruin "The Moment."

"Fang…left. Again," Gazzy said awkwardly.

"Why? Where?" Dr Martinez asked.

"We don't know," max said, her voice choked.

Was she gonna cry again?

"Everybody sit down for a minute," Dr Martinez said. "Angel, could you please get an ice pack for Iggy's head?"

"Sure," she said, skipping inside.

I sat down with my legs crossed, Ella leaning against me. Her touch sent sparks flying through my body, making me shiver.

"Anybody care to explain what just happened and why?" Dr. Martinez asked incredulously.

"I think I may be able to help you with that, Valencia," a male's voice came through all the dust, loud and clear.

"That voice," Max murmured. She whirled around and gasped.

"_You!"_

"Hello Max," the man said calmly.

**DUN DUN DUN DUUUUUN!  
Who is this mysteriously freaky man that just showed up? Well, today's a weekend, so you guys can read in the OTHER CHAPTER THAT I'M POSTING UP RIGHT NOW!  
Enjoy reading that as well! **

**Damn, this chapter was probably my longest one so far. Oh wells, it's exciting! **

**And check out my new Fang story: In the Dark, if you want to. **

**It's pretty cool. **

**Advice, criticism, questions, ideas, and reviews are very much needed, so please contact me (info on profile) if you have any of those and R&R!**

**And damn, people, if you have questions, why don't you ask?**

**THANK YOU TO ALL MY SUPER-AWESOME REVIEWERS! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Before I start the chapter, I just want you guys to know that I did a little fanfic research and found that authors that update like, twice a month, and are egoists, get more reviews than normal authors like me, who update every day. Hmmm. Anyhoo, I just would like to say, I really dislike egoist authors. They make me really mad, because they always answer their reviews with "I know my stories are great" or blah blah. I also dislike (I'm not gonna say hate, hate is a very strong word.) authors who beg and say stuff like "If I don't get 20 reviews by Monday, I'm not updating."**

**I have like, what? 31 reviews, but I don't care. At least you guys reviewed!**

**I never thought that I'd even get **_**one**_** review, so I'm happy the way I am. Just… some words of wisdom: "DON'T BE AN AUTHOR WITH A HUMONGOUS EGO!" it'll ruin your life. **

**It will. **

**Where was I? Oh yeah. The story. **

**Here ya go:**

What's going on?

Who _is_ this guy?

Why is he here?

"Um, hey guys."

Jeb?

Why was Jeb here, right after we'd been attacked, with a strange man who seemed to know both Max and Dr. Martinez?

_Angel, _I screamed the thought frantically. _Show me something!_

_Not now, Iggy._

_Not now? Not NOW? What the hell is wrong with y—_

_I _said_ not _now. Her thought was firm and angry.

Was she reading the dude's mind or something?

The man laughed.

"Don't even try, Angel," he said, and I could almost_ see_ a smirk on his face, whatever it looked like. "Everything I'm thinking is blocked. You can't get into my head, no matter how hard you try. You see, _I'm _usually the one who gets into others' heads."

"I don't get it. There's nothing, just like—," Angel stopped abruptly. "You sent them, didn't you?" she said, her voice shaking with anger and fear at the same time.

"Well, yes. You needed the exercise, and I wanted to see if your combat had improved."

"Um, excuse me sir, who exactly are you?" Ella asked. I pulled her close to me, my skin burning. I couldn't give a rat's ass about who he was. As long as he kept his hands off my family and Dr. Martinez and Ella, he would get to live.

"I'm—" he started to say, but Max interrupted him.

"Allow _me _to present to you, the one and only: my pain-in-the-butt, you-must-save-the-world, annoying-ass Voice!"

Nudge gasped.

Angel let a squeak escape from her mouth.

Gazzy farted. **(Out of excitement. I totally laughed when I wrote this. It was such an unexpected addition to the story. xD )**

"No freakin' way," I muttered.

"Unbelievable," Dr. Martinez said.

"Yes," the man said, clearing his throat. "Thank you for that pleasant introduction, Max, though I would've preferred something kinder."

"God," Max said in an irritated tone. "You're even more exasperating in real life."

"Why are you here? And what does Jeb have to do with all this?" I asked.

"Well, we should probably go inside before I explain."

Dr. Martinez chuckled nervously.

"There isn't really an _inside _anymore, as you can see."

"Fine then, we'll sit here," he said.

"Aren't you afraid you'll ruin your fancy-shmancy suit?" Max asked sarcastically.

"There are more important manners at hand than my suit getting 'ruined'."

Max scoffed.

We all sat down on the ruined ground. I pulled Ella close to me. (Guess it's a protective boyfriend thing.)

Max was super quiet. Was she arguing with Angel inside her head?

"_Ahem,"_ Jeb cleared his throat.

I turned toward him, my face set with anger.

"Why the hell are _you_ here?"

"Uh, we'll get to that, Iggy. Just let Mr. Ryan finish."

Max scoffed again.

"Mr. _Ryan?_ Not like, Mr. I-am-your-Voice-Max-so-you-shall-obey-me?"

Mr. What's-his-face chuckled. "It's such a pleasure to finally meet you—all of you, in person."

"Max, Angel, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy."

"Cool!" Gaz exclaimed. Aw, crap, he couldn't possibly _like_ this dude, could he? "You know my name! Do you know of my awesome ability, too?"

We were all suddenly engulfed by this cloud of God-knows-what.

"Damn, Gazzy!" Max shouted, coughing.

I laughed, choking from the horrible smelling-and tasting- (Yes, it was a total "EW" moment, but hey, you gotta get used to it if you live with a nine-year-old mutant bird-kid who has a serious "cutting-the-cheese-at-awkward-moments" issue) fog of whatever.

"Atta boy!" I said, laughing and coughing, tears streaming down my face.

"Yes," Mr. Voice said tranquilly. "I am aware that you have issues with your digestive system and whatnot."

"So you're not disgusted?" Gaz asked, sounding bummed and surprised at the same time.

"No, quite not. On the contrary, it fascinates me."

"You're weird," The Gasman said awkwardly.

"Anyways," Max said quickly, changing the subject. "You haven't answered our question. Why. Are. You. Here?"

"And how do you know my mom?" Ella piped up.

"I have been, well, in your heads for quite a long time now," he started.

"No kidding," Max said.

"You're not _my_ voice," Angel added quietly.

"Ah, well, no. I'm not. That's part of the bigger picture."

"You told me _you_ were the bigger picture," Max said unbelievingly.

"Well, the _biggest_ picture," he said.

"I don't get it," Nudge said slowly.

"We have been testing you."

**Two new chapters tomorrow! And I'd like to say that I don't support you guys having questions but not asking. I don't have a life. I'll answer them. xD**

**Anyhoo, I'm off to eat breakfast.**

**G'morning people. I am sooo stressed that I have three humongous pimples on my freakin' nose.**

**Wait, why am I telling you guys?**

**Okay, questions, advice, criticism, and ideas should be sent to my inbox, Twitter, formspring, or Yahoo email. You can find my contact info in chapter three or my profile.**

**Please R&R! (I'm still gonna update even if I don't get a lot of reviews. I'm not like that. =/)**

**I love my readers and reviewers. **

**~N~**


	21. Chapter 21

**I am sooo sick right now I can't even explain it. I slept in an old t-shirt and shorts last night because it was super hot. Moments after I'd gone to sleep, the weather turned ghastly cold. I don't feel good. But I will keep writing, because nothing can stop me. :)**

I shook my head.

Nudge sighed.

Gazzy slapped his forehead.

"That is getting soo old," Max said in her best "I'm-rolling-my-eyes-at-you" voice.

"You're like, always testing us and stuff!" Nudge said, and it was obvious that she was staring at them pointedly. "Don't you have a life or something? No kids or wife to go home to?"

"Nah," I said sarcastically. "That's why they mess with us. They see it as a kind of game."

"That is quite untrue," Jeb spoke up.

"Man, give me a break, dude," I said, shaking my head once again. "Seriously, man. Do you get up in the morning and ask yourself what side you're gonna be on that day, like Nudge does with her clothes?"

"Hey!" Nudge said, half-hurt.

"You don't have to do this, Jeb," Angel said softly.

See, another thing I hated about Angel was that she'd just answer people's random thoughts out loud, and none of us would understand what she was talking about, except for the person whose thoughts she was terrorizing.

Mr. Ryan cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, I have been in your heads, and I have watched you develop a normal life. You blended in perfectly, just as I was expecting. I'd thought your fighting skills would've worsened, but I was mistaken."

"That's not the first time," Max muttered under her breath.

"Yes, well, everybody makes mistakes."

"Um, excuse me Mr. Ryan, but I have a question," Dr. Martinez spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Was it really necessary for you to blow up our house, thus ruining it and pretty much everything inside it, and leaving us homeless?"

"I have made arrangements for you to stay at a hotel while your house is renovated. I am deeply sorry for the inconvenience, but yes, it was necessary. The kids should always be on the lookout."

I banged my head on an invisible desk.

"Dude, if you haven't noticed, we never _wanted _this life, okay? It wasn't our choice to be 2% bird. You made us that way because you thought it would be a fun little experiment! If it wasn't for you, I still might've had my eyes!" I bellowed.

The Gasman took me by one arm and Ella by the other.

"You don't write our destiny!" I yelled.

Max stood up, brushing dirt off her clothes.

"See, Mr. I-am-a-total-dominating-jerk? This is what I've been _trying_ to tell you! You think only _I _think that you suck because you're inside my head, but every single one of us hates your guts!"

Mr. Ryan ignored her and turned to me.

"No," he said crisply. "I do not write or control your destiny, but I can change it."

There was a rustling sound as he brought something out of his jacket. (At least, that was what I assumed it was.)

We all heard a loud 'BOOM!' as the bullet flew and hit one of us.

**I am still sick. :/. I don't enjoy being sick. It annoys me. Oh, and I'd usually add something like "hit one of us squarely in the chest" but Iggy can't know that. :P **

**I wonder when I'm gonna end this story…**

**How many more chapters? IDK!**

**One thing you might be wondering: why is this story in the romance section? It has stuff besides romance.**

**I'll tell you why: because I think that it would be wayyy to cheesy if the Flock just lived all happy-go-lucky without any excitement or danger. The story would totally suck, don't you think? **

**Well, ask your questions, criticize me, and please R&R!**


	22. Chapter 22

"ELLA!" everybody screamed at once, besides me.

Ella?

_Ella?_

My first instinct was to run to her side, but I knew better. I rushed at Mr. Ryan, grabbed him by the collar, and shook him so hard that his head snapped back and forth.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I thundered. "Why did you do that? Has she ever done anything to you?"

"Please remove your hands from my shirt," he replied calmly.

"All right, that's it!" I yelled, bringing my hand back to punch him in the face.

"No Iggy, stop!" Max shouted.

"Why?" I growled back. "She's your sister!"

"You gotta take a look at this!"

She had, once again, forgotten that I was blind.

"Fine."

I dropped Mr. Ryan to the ground and rushed to Ella's side.

"Ella, are you okay?" I asked frantically.

"What the…?" she murmured.

Nudge took my hand (I knew it was hers because it was a chocolaty color) and placed it under Ella's breast. There was a small dent there. I put my hand in it and took out some metal thing smaller than my pinkie's fingernail. _This_ was the bullet?

There was a trickle of blood coming out of the dent, but it wasn't a lot. Probably as much blood as would come out if you had gotten a papercut.

"Just another test," Mr. Ryan said.

"You're _sick_," The Gasman muttered.

"Disgusting," Nudge agreed.

"Scientists," I said, shaking my head. "You're all the same, aren't you? You just keep experimenting us, hoping that we'll do what? Surrender? Come back to a lab so you can make us run on wheels and record our flying rates?"

"Not gonna happen, buddy," Max added.

"As I mentioned before, you needed the exercise."

"Why _Ella?"_ Dr. Martinez asked.

"Well, she was the only person who was somebody's… mate, besides Fang," he answered reluctantly.

"So you mean you actually tried to test _Iggy _because _Ella_ was _his_ girlfriend?" Angel asked confusedly.

I felt myself growing hotter at the word _'girlfriend'._

"Um, yes."

"Well, that's hardly fair," Gazzy spoke up. "She's not super-awesome like us—no offense Ella, so it's kinda mean to 'test out stuff' on her."

"He does have a point," Jeb silently commented.

I had forgotten that he was there. I guess Max had, too, because she said, "And what do _you_ have to do with all this? Damn, you're like, _everywhere!"_

"And you always show up at the wrong moments, or so I hear," Ella added, coming up beside me.

"You go inside and put a band-aid on that wound," I murmured.

"No," she said firmly. "It's just a little bruise. Look, it already stopped bleeding." She put my finger to the dent. It was dry now.

"Still, take Dr. M and go inside. No more experiments for you."

"No, I can take care of myself," she said stubbornly.

I sighed. So it was going to be the hard way, huh?

I heaved her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and slowly started walking inside.

"Let me go!" she yelled, pounding my back. I chuckled. She was a little fighter, but her punches were like a massage—not hurting me one bit.

"Yeah, that feels good," I murmured. "A little bit to the left."

Now she started kicking.

I laughed out loud. Ella may have been Max's _step_-sister, but she had the same willfulness Max did.

I dropped her on the demolished couch in the living room and ran back outside.

She was too worn out to follow me, but she had enough strength to yell, "You'll pay for this! Let's see if you can kiss me again!"

I ran back inside, kissed her softly, and ran back out.

"I always win!" I shouted over my shoulder.

"I'm here," Jeb said, "because Mr. Ryan is my boss."

"How didn't I see _that_ one coming?" Max asked sarcastically.

"And he wanted me to accompany him because he thought you would be glad to see me," Jeb continued. "Obviously not," he added under his breath.

"And couldn't you have, um, 'tested' them from far away? I really don't see the point of you coming here," Dr. Martinez pointed out.

"Well, I wanted to give the news myself."

"What news?" Nudge asked excitedly. "Are we gonna go on a vacation?"

"No, not quite. One of you is going to go on a mission."

**QUICK QUESTION: Do you like the guys better, or the girls? I, for some unexplainable reason, like Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy better than Nudge, Max, and Angel.**

**It might have something to do with the fact that Iggy and Fang are my age, and drop-dead gorgeous, in their own different ways, and I would totally marry The Gasman if he'd been 5 years older. (But we'd have to find a solution about his "digestive system problems" first…)**

**Oh, and no one answered yesterday's question: WHICH CHAPTER DID YOU LIKE BEST?  
**

**Anyhoo, I gotta go nows.**

**:)**

**R&R and send me your questions, advice, criticism, or ideas please!**

**Oh, and if you have any story requests, you can send me those too, and I'll see what I can whip up. **

**And here's a cheesy little thing I drew for my readers:**

.com/photos/asmileaday77/4613304297/


	23. Chapter 23

**Hello people. I'm still insanely sick, but I haven't given up. Not yet. :D**

"A… mission?" Nudge asked, all the excitement in her voice gone. "That doesn't sound like much fun. I mean—don't get me wrong, I love helping people and stuff, but, seriously? This was the big news?"

"A mission," Max said slowly, letting the information sink in. "Where are we going? What are we gonna do? How can I trust you? Is this for CSM?"

Her leader bone was up and kickin'. (Haha—get it? Leader bone? Like, funny bone, or mean bone? Okay, I'm gonna shut up and go back to the story now…)

"No, Maximum, not 'we'. Only one of you will go on this mission," Mr. Ryan said quietly.

Max stopped talking. "Are you out of your crazy evil-scientist mind? I'm not gonna leave my Flock on their butts to go on some freakin' mission!"

"Um, honey, he might not be talking about you. He said one of you, so it could be anybody," Dr. Martinez said.

"Yeah!" Nudge piped up. "Maybe I'll get to go!"

"Or maybe it's me!" Angel chimed in.

"Um, actually, it's Iggy," Jeb said nervously.

"Iggy?" Max asked incredulously. "Don't take it the wrong way, but why _you?"_

I shrugged.

"Why don't you ask your fancy pants Voice over there?"

"Well," Mr. Ryan started. "Iggy has been the most, er, _active_ member of the Flock the past month."

"Active?" Nudge asked confusedly. "Falling in love makes you 'active'?"

"Um, no. I meant as in: he's went through a lot of physical and mental changes, and he's gotten hurt quite a few times. What I'm trying to say is that he's the only one who is living his life how it used to be, before Fang left."

"What does Fang have anything to do with all this?" Gazzy asked.

Max was quiet. I knew the subject was bothering her, especially because she'd been crying over Fang just half an hour ago.

"I'm getting to that," Mr. Ryan said impatiently.

"Sir, what is the mission exactly?" Angel asked. She'd been quiet for quite a while now.

"Iggy's mission is to find something—some_one_, to be exact."

"And where does Fang fit in with all of this?" I asked slowly. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. Heck, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to go on this stupid mission, yet.

"Exactly," Mr. Ryan responded.

"Exactly…what?" Nudge inquired.

"Fang _is _the mission."

Say _what?_

"Your mission, Iggy, is to find Fang."

**Yay yay! Drama! Oh, and I'm not playing with you guys or anything, but I didn't actually notice that I left my readers with cliffhangers till some of my reviewers told me.**

**Ehhh, I write weird.**

**xP**

**All of your reviews mean a lot to me, so please R&R!**

**And I asked the quick questions in hopes that you would answer them, you know. :(**


	24. Chapter 24

**Before I start, I just wanna say, every review makes me jump up and down like a crazy maniac, thus earning strange looks from my parents and my little sisters, so to every single person that reviewed: you're my hero. Oh, and I watched Kick Ass. DEFINITELY a must-watch. So go watch it if ya already haven't. :D**

Mr. Ryan paused, as if he was waiting for some kind of reaction. Man, were all white coat dudes the same? Did they expect us to go, "Oh, okay. You want me to go on a mission to find my bro for you just because you said the magic word. Sure, fine, no prob."

Nudge had taught me a few of her "Must-be-known-Internet-slang", although I don't think she understood that if you were a bird-kid constantly on the run with no one to need to chat to besides your family, who were (almost) always with you, and you were blind, you really didn't give a damn about 'chatting'.

But on this occasion, I think a _*facepalm* _or a _*headdesk*_ would be appropriate.

"What makes you think I can find him?" I asked coolly. "What makes _me _so special that _I'm _the chosen one that gets to go look for him?"

"Well, there is more than one reason," Mr. Ryan started hesitantly.

"Just spit it out," Max said disgustedly.

I knew why she was so mad. She wanted to go after Fang. She knew as well as I did that the scientists wouldn't be stupid enough to let Fang roam freely on his own. They knew where he was. They were testing us, and Max wanted so badly to be by Fang again, to kiss him, to hold him. Although I would still tease her endlessly if, by any chance, Fang came back, I now knew how it was like. A life without Ella was now unthinkable.

"Okay. First reason: you can't go, Maximum. Fang won't follow you back."

"And why wouldn't he? I happen to be the snooty leader. He's gotta listen."

"I don't think we'd make Iggy search for him if he'd listened to you earlier. You don't control him anymore."  
Max was blushing. I was sure of it. Losing control over somebody made her angry and frustrated.

"Furthermore, Iggy is the closest to Fang, besides you. He is, as you have constantly thought in your head, his 'bro'. Iggy is perfect bait."

"Whoa, hold it."

Was that Ella's voice?

"What are you doing here?"I growled.

"God, Iggy, I'm thirteen. I'm not a baby anymore," Ella said in an irritated. "You don't order me around. I'm sticking my tongue at you, by the way."

"Oh, yeah. You're _real _mature for a teenager," I muttered.

She slugged me, hard.

"Ow," I said, rubbing my arm. "Isn't there a rule that says you can't hurt your boyfriend?"

"Unfortunately for you, no. Haha. Anyways, Mr. Ryan, why did you just call Iggy 'perfect bait'?"

"Because he'd be the perfect way to get Fang back."

"And wasn't it your idea in the first place to make him go away?" Angel asked. "My Voice said that we'd be better off without him."

"Ah, well, that's a slight problem we're working on."

"Don't change the subject," Ella said firmly. This girl surprised me every day. Love can change people, huh?

"I don't think Iggy should go."

"What?" we all said at the same time.

I mean, I wasn't a big fan of this mission either, but hey, if it was gonna get Fang back…

"I don't think you make the decisions around here," Mr. Ryan said, a bit flustered.

Ella slipped her arm through mine. "Yeah, well, I think that we can make an exception. I _am_ his girlfriend, so I think I should have a say in this."

"Ella," Dr. Martinez said softly. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

See, this is why I was jealous of Max and Ella. Their mom never got _mad_ at them. As Max had once said: As long as you kept your dirty socks of her floors, you were golden.

"Positive, Mom."

"Okay, then," Dr. M replied reluctantly.

"Well, I think she's crazy," I said. "It's _my _mission, isn't it? I'm going."

"Oh, no you're not. Not without me."

"You want to come too?" Jeb asked, taken aback.

"Yeah. If he goes, I go."

I shook my head.

You see why I say I don't understand women?

**I'm sick, as I said before, so the chapters won't be as long.**

**Speaking of chapters… my fave ones were chapter 19, the one where they battle with the Bots, and chapter 16, the actual kiss.**

**QUICK QUESTION: What kind of MR romance do you want me to do next? Iggy, Miggy, Eggy (again? hmm…) Niggy, Fax, Mazzy (not a big fan of those, but seen some before o.O) Mylan, Fudge (haha, calling it 'Nang' is probably better but Fudge makes me laugh) Nazzy? Or anything else?**

**SHOUT-OUT: Today's shout-out goes to BookHunter, one of my faithful reviewers, who has this AWESOME story called "You Have The Right To Remain Silent". Check it out if you already haven't.**

**(I'm gonna be doing these shout-outs every day, but only MR stories, obviously.)**

**Oh, and if you guys could answer the quick question on chap 22, it would mean a lot to me. Me and my friend are having a fight over it, that's why.**

**If you have any story requests or suggestions, send them to me.**

**(Somebody requested a "Figgy". Sorry, I read them when I'm bored, but I don't write 'em.)**

**Keep rockin', my awesome readers! And please check out my new Fang story: In The Dark.**

**Don't smoke, R&R, and send me your ideas/criticism/advice/etc.**

**~N~**


	25. Chapter 25

I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and turned towards Ella.

"You're not coming. Period."

"Maax!" she protested.

"Don't look at me, kiddo. The blind mutant freak has spoken."

"Fine then." She turned to me. "Now, look here, mister! I can go anywhere I want as long as I have permission, so _you _can't stop me!"

I put my hands on her shoulders and pulled her in closer.

"You don't have _my _permission," I whispered, grinning.

She shrugged.

"Who said I cared?"

"_I _say you should."

"A good girlfriend wouldn't let her boyfriend go off on an unknown mission."

"You know what a good girlfriend would do right now to comfort her crazy-ass boyfriend?"

"What?"

"This."

I brought my lips down on hers, hard, inhaling slowly. She smelled like peaches, my new favorite aroma.

She pulled back and smacked me on the head.

"Ow! Bandage!" I yelled, rubbing my head.

"Idiot!" she laughed. "I'm supposed to be infuriated. How can I be mad at you if you kiss me?"

She hugged me, and I buried my head in her long, silky hair.

"Barf. Take it inside!" Gazzy shouted.

"No!" Nudge protested. "We're getting this all on tape."

"Just you wait," I muttered. "The next time you talk to a cute boy, it's gonna be all over the Internet."

Nudge gasped. "You _wouldn't."_

"Try me," I said, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Fine," she said poutily. There was a '_click'_ as she reluctantly turned the video camera off.

"So," I started awkwardly, turning back to Jeb and Mr. Ryan. "When do I start?"

"In a few hours."

_Crap._

**Sorry for the short chap. Lots to come though! I think I might end this story after like, 6 or 10 chapters. What do you guys think?**

**QUICK QUESTION: Do you know Smosh? If not, check 'em out. :D**

**SHOUT-OUT: Today's shout-out goes to my new buddy, (we ARE buddies, right? o.O you BETTER be my buddy! Hehe, jk.) iggy-and-cat4ever, who has this cool story called "Meow". It's an Iggy story, and it's cool. :D Go check 'er out.**

**QUESTION OF THE DAY: **_**How old are you?**_

**I'm turning 14 in July. WOOT!**

**If you have any story requests, leave them in the reviews section, or e-mail me, or ask me on formspring or… whatEVER. (contact info= chap 3)**

**Ideas, advice, criticism, whatever are appreciated. **

**Don't forget to R&R! (I'm sure you feel the same way about reviews. Don't they make me happy? They make me fly!)**

**See you awesome peeps tomorrow! **


	26. Chapter 26

"Oh. My. GOOOOD!" Nudge squealed. "I _cannot_ believe that I get a queen size bed all to myself!"

She shouted excitedly and jumped on her ginormous, unnecessary, way-too-big-for-her bed.

"Hey, Nudge!" Max yelled from the other room. "They have a hot tub, too!"

"With a bubble-making machine," Angel added.

"I'm in heaven," Nudge said softly.

I rolled my eyes at her and turned back to Ella.

"So, where are you gonna sleep tonight?"

"Well, I'm _supposed_ to sleep in this room with Nudge, but I think I'll pass for tonight. I don't know if I'm ready for an 'extreme makeover'."

"Fine," Nudge huffed. "You go smooch with Lover Boy all you want. I've already missed _way_ too many Gossip Girl episodes, and having the room all to myself just means more popcorn for me!"

"I _promise_ I'll let you do a makeover on me tomorrow."

"Whatever," Nudge said sulkily.

"We'll watch "The Clique" together," Ella sing-songed.

"Really! OMG! I've wanted to see that movie for like, EVER! It's supposed to be like, _way_ cool!"

"Yeah, okay. Save your energy for tomorrow. It's just gonna be us girls!" Ella said softly.

That was another thing I loved about her. She was always kind and sweet to everybody. The only person she ever seemed to disobey was _me._

"That's 'cause you guys share a special bond," Angel said airily, walking—no, more like _skipping—_into the room.

When was she gonna understand that no, it was _not _acceptable to read people's minds without giving them a warning first?

"It's okay, Iggy. I don't read your mind_ that_ much. Just when I'm bored. Your thoughts….amuse me."

"Really?" Ella said. I knew a smile was tugging at the corners of her mouth. "You'll have to tell me all about it some time." She laughed and walked out of the room with Max to check on Dr. M.

Can you say *_facepalm_*?

I turned to Angel.

"All right. What's it gonna take to make you keep your mouth shout?'

"I dunno," she answered nonchalantly. "Say, I _did_ see this _really _cute princess outfit in one of the stores downstairs."

I rubbed my forehead and rolled my eyes.

"Deal," I held out my hand.

"No deal. Not 'till I get my costume."

Which is why normal people should be happy that they don't live with mind reading, manipulating, psychotic 7-year-olds.

"Fine," I muttered, getting up.

Nudge shot out of her bed at lightning speed.

"Not so fast there, buddy."

"Um, Nudge? Why are you blocking my way?"

"You're not going anywhere. Angel tells _me _things too. Lots and lots of things."

Shit.

"Fine. I'll get you that Justin Beaver CD."

"Yay!" She jumped up and down and hugged me.

"And it's Bie_ber_, know-it-all," she muttered.

"I _don't care_," I responded, rolling my eyes.

Great. Having no money left was something I'd gotten used to, but spending my last few dollars on a freakin' "pop-star sensation who will totally lose his career when he hits puberty"? That took the "macho" right out of the "man".

**(ATTENTION ALL BIEBER LOVERS: I did not write that to offend JB. I will not share my insight on Bieber over FanFic, but those were Iggy's words, so calm yourselves people! JB is good if you believe he is, and he's bad if you believe he is. No comment. Okay? So, Beliebers? Take a few deep breaths, drink a tall glass of cool water, chant "It's just a part of the story" over and over with me till you're calm, and go on with the story.)**

That night I was lying on my comfy bed, thinking about where Fang could possibly be right now, when the doorknob turned. I leaped off the bed and stealthily moved toward the door. The door creaked open and I sprang up, ready to attack.

"Hey."

"Ella? Sorry, thought you were someone else."

"Nope, just me. Um, is Gazzy…?"

"Fast asleep? Yeah. That boy is one heck of a drooler. He snores a lot too."

I took a napkin from the drawer beside his bed and wiped his slobbery mouth.

"How do you do that?" Ella asked, astounded.

"Do what?" I cocked my head to one side; the napkin held inches above the trash can.

"How did you know where the napkins were?"

"I memorized the place of everything," I said, trying to keep the "_duh" _out of my voice.

"Incredible," she whispered.

Huh. The Flock was always used to me knowing where everything was because I was, well, Iggy.

It was cool to have someone think that it was "incredible".

"So. You gonna sleep with me tonight?"

"Guess so."

I flopped down lazily on the bed, and sat beside me.

She traced one finger down my shirt. I closed my eyes, shivering from her touch. She touched my eyelids, followed every eyelash with her little pinkie.

"Half of the time I forget that you're blind, you know?" she murmured. "You see more than anybody else."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Well, you saw right through _me _and my little plan to make you jealous."

"I knew you weren't into jocks, anyway," I responded, grinning.

She was silent for a few minutes.

Was she asleep?

"Iggy?" Ella asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think anything will… happen to you? On the mission?"

I took her hand in mine.

"I'll be okay. I've used up my nine lives, but I'm still not dead yet. How much harm can an emo, fifteen-year-old mutant kid cause?"

She twisted my hair.

"Iggy? Have you ever… seen what I look like before?"

"Angel showed me once, when we first found out you were Max's step-sister."

"Really?" she said excitedly. "What was I like?"

I sighed. Could I ever forget?

The memory came back quickly.

"_Max's step-sister? Whoa," I muttered._

_I wondered what she looked like._

_I guessed Angel must've been in mind-reading mode, 'cause she said, "Oh, she's so pretty."_

_I was wondering how Max could have a step-sister when an image appeared in my head. It was a girl, probably twelve or thirteen, with innocent chocolate brown eyes—same as Max's. She had long, silky brown hair that was just a bit darker than her eyes. She had this look about her that made you just wanna hug her. I'd thought that Angel had hit the jackpot with the "angel" look, but this girl beat her._

_For some reason that I couldn't explain, her image sent shivers down my spine._

"_Thanks, Angel," I mumbled._

I sighed.

"You looked so… innocent. I just wanted to give you a big bear hug right there and then. You were the most beautiful thing Angel had ever shown me."

"Really?" Ella asked, astonished.

"What did _you _think of me the first time you saw _me?_" I asked.

"I thought. Well, I didn't know you were blind, so I didn't understand why you were staring at the filing cabinet behind Nudge's head. But that's not important. Something weird went through me when I first set my eyes on you. You were so… perfect-looking."

"I was covered in dirt and blood."

"I know. But that was what made you so perfect. You were like one of those guys you see on T.V.—well, not you, but everyone else. Those once-in-a-lifetime guys that cared, and weren't afraid to do whatever it took to protect you, that actually knew what love was. Like, like Zac Efron."

"Hmm," I said, grinning. "Should I be flattered or insulted?"

"You're so much handsomer than Zac Efron. And you kiss way better," Ella said. She bent her head and slowly kissed me. "See? Living proof."

I tickled her and she laughed out loud, and then stopped abruptly.

"Let's try not to wake Gazzy up," she whispered.

She cuddled next to me, her head under my chin. I kissed her hair and closed my eyes.

The last thing I remembered was smelling peaches before I fell into asleep.

**I like this chapter! It's funny! Did you guys notice that it has like, advertisement? A LOT of advertisement? I didn't plan that… Let's see… I put Gossip Girl, The Clique, Justin Bieber, and Zac Efron, all in one chapter unintentionally.**

**QUICK QUESTION: WHICH OF MY STORIES IS DO YOU LIKE MORE? "In the Dark" or "So Close"?**

**SHOUT-OUT: Today's shout-out goes to Fangalicious08. This author wrote a story called One in a Million about Ella and Iggy. I haven't finished it yet cause I'm in computer class, but I like it. You should go check it out. :D**

**QUESTION O' THE DAY: **_**Why did you write about Iggy? I love this story, I'm just wondering.**_

**Umm, idk? I just love him and Fang, and I thought that JP kinda threw him into the background. Like, Max, Angel, and Fang where the important ones and the others were there for show or something. And I have always supported Eggy. And I've never had a boyfriend, so romances are fun to write. **

**Oh, and I'm going to post my new MR story on the last week of June. I'd post it right now, but I've already got my plate full, what with "So Close" and "In the Dark" (which you should check out, if you haven't). And I'm going to start a blog and a book review. Our school ends in July, so I can't really do those right now. :(**

**You can subscribe to me if you would like to be alerted of my upcoming stories. I've got some REALLY great ideas.**

**Please R&R!**

**}N{**


	27. Chapter 27

"Yo, Igster! Get up man!" Gazzy shouted, shaking me.

I rolled over. "Ten more minutes," I mumbled.

"Dude, they have an all-you-can-eat buffet!"

"Not hungry. Slept late."

Gazzy groaned and left, murmuring something like "stupid jerk".

I tumbled out of the bed, still half asleep. My head was throbbing like hell, even though Dr. M had fixed it yesterday.

Yesterday…

What had happened yesterday?

Ella had slept in my bed.

Ella!

I slowly got up, not daring to make a sound in fear of waking her up. She was still sleeping like a baby, her breathing even and steady. I kissed her forehead and tip-toed out of the room.

I ran quickly to Nudge's room and pounded on the door.

"Open up!"

"God," Nudge yelled from inside, her tone irritated. "Can't a girl brush her hair in peace?"

"NO!"

She sighed and opened the door.

"What _is_ it that's _so_ important that you have to go and interrupt my daily "hair-care" hour?"

"You have a "hair-care" hour?" I said, shooting her a "you're insane" look.

"Yeah, and you should too. Look at you! You're a _mess! _Have you even showered?"

"That's why I'm here. I need to use your bathroom."

"Why? Don't you have one in your own room?"

"Yeah, but Ella's asleep and I don't wanna wake her up."

"Ugh. Fine. But you better be done in thirty minutes, and don't even _think_ about using my bathrobe."

She stomped out of the room, muttering under her breath.

I laughed. I was going to miss Nudge's chitter-chatter while I was gone.

"I _said, _pass the freakin' pancakes! I even said please!" I gritted my teeth as Gaz chomped down on his food.

Fine. If he wanted it that way…

"Ma-a-ax! Tell Gazzy to stop hogging the pancakes!" I whined.

She groaned. "Gazzy, if you don't share the pancakes, I will ban explosives for_ever _and make you Nudge's makeover victim until you're twenty years old."

"_Thank_ you," I said, almost melting as the delicious aroma of bacon and pancakes found its way to my nostrils.

"No prob. Hey, why hasn't Ella come down yet?"

"Let her sleep. She's totally wiped out," I said. "I'll take some food up to her later."

Angel giggled.

"What? _What?" _I asked. I wasn't thinking of anything amusing.

"You're always thinking of her. That's so cute."

_*headdesk* _

_*headdesk*_

_*headdesk*_

_I guess you don't want that princess costume, do you_? I thought.

"Fine," she grumbled. "Zipping my lips."

As you can imagine, breakfast wasn't very fun.

After breakfast, I took a tray and silently went up to our room. I knocked softly on the door.

"Ella? Are you awake yet?"

"Hmm? What time is it?" she asked sleepily.

"Umm, ten A.M. That's what the dude at the counter said."

"Oh my gosh!" she shouted. I heard a loud crash as she tumbled out of the bed.

"Ow."

"Brought you some breakfast."

"Thanks. Sorry for, uh, ruining your bed."

"It's okay. I'm not gonna sleep in it anymore."

"Right." Her voice sounded so _sad._

"It's okay. I'll be back soon," I told her, wrapping my arms around her skinny body.

"I know," she said, her voice wavering. "It's just that… What if you get hurt or something?"

"I'll be okay. Like I said, I haven't died yet. And you've seen me get hurt before."

"There's a big difference." She hugged me hard, sobbing silently into my shoulders.

**(Someone's emotional… But I don't really know about love. I've never had a boyfriend, had my heart broken a thousand times, and no one's ever asked me yet. Guys at my schools are great "homies" with girls like me. They don't see me as a girl. They see me as a girl who's their friend. And the worst part? I'm not even IN to the stuff THEY are. So I'm not a tomboy. *sigh* Every guy in this stupid world is either taken, gay, or fictional. That's bull….)**

"Hey," I said, pulling back and looking into what I hoped were her tearful eyes. "No crying. Or I'll tickle you."

"I can't help it! It's not f-f-fair!" she wailed.

I had to do something. I hated seeing her like this. Girls were way too emotional.

"I think you're ready."

She stopped crying. "Ready for what?"

"To take a little ride."

**Ahh Iggy. Leave Ella. Come to the dark, non-fictional girls' side. Let us all fight over you and Fang. Guess what? No school today. Teachers had conference. So I will write. :D**

**QUICK QUESTION: Fang or Iggy? Haha. I'm evil. **

**SHOUT-OUT: This shout-out is to Krystal Lunescent. She has this story called "Maximum Ride: Termination" that i'm really enjoying right now. You should look it up.**

**QUESTION OF THE DAY: **_**Why don't you do a Nazzy? They're so romantic. (asked by EveryLitlThing on formspring )**_

**Because Nudge is twelve. Gazzy's nine. And I would do it if Gazzy had at least LIVED A DECADE, but he hasn't, so no can do. And Gazzy's my lil bro, and I do NOT allow him to go out with Nudge Mkay? Get it? Got it? Good. 'Cause I'm not gonna repeat that. And I have some plans o' my own for Nudge and her love life… *raises eyebrow, stares at invisible readers, and laughs evilly* BUT I'M NOT TELLING!**

**Muahahahahah!**

**Haha. I'm laughing at myself. I shook my butt a LOT yesterday, doing a happy dance 'cause I got ALOTTA reviews for both of my stories yesterday!**

**Oh yeah. I like reviews. And those who start or end their reviews with "sorry to bother you with my reviews" will get a virtual slap. I love reviews! They make me all giddy inside. God, I'm soo childish. Hehe. Okayyy, I need to tune down the author's notes. **

**Eh. I like talking to my readers, 'cause I have no other way to communicate with 'em. Well, I HAVE been talking to SOME on formspring and yahoo. **

**Oh, and if it was one of you guys who asked me about what kind of photography I liked best on formspring, I ANSWERED YOU!**

**Okay, I'm shutting up now. Don't throw tomatoes at me. :D**

**R&R pleash?**


	28. Chapter 28

"Ready?" I asked, a little grin slowly finding its way onto my face. This was gonna be awesome.

"Um, are you sure about this?" Ella asked nervously.

"Aw, come _on._ I've never dropped anybody. Not yet, anyways," I smirked.

"Um, okay. I'm gonna go inside now. Suddenly that makeover idea is sounding really good," she said. She made a dash for the doors, but I held onto her arm.

"Not yet. First, we gotta do this."

"But—but—"

"Don't you trust me?" I whispered in her ear.

"I trust _you_, I just don't trust your hands as much," she muttered.

"Can we get _this_ on tape?" Nudge yelled.

I sighed. "Fine."

"Look, Iggy, I love you. You know that, but if you drop me, I'll—I'll burn all of your crazy psychotic audio books."

"I'm _not_ gonna drop you."

"How can you be so sure?"

"'Cause I'm Iggy, for God's sake," I answered, rolling my eyes.

"I'm just not sure if it's really safe. What if something—"

"To hell with safety," I mumbled. I picked Ella up, spread my wings, and launched myself into the air.

Ella screamed her little lungs out, kicking and thrashing like her life was in actual danger.

**(Something *I* probably would do too, you freak.)**

"You're insane!" She yelled. "You're freakin' diabolical! I don't know_ what _I ever saw in a madman like you! Let me go!"

"You're not being reasonable," I said, trying to keep a straight face. Making her angrier than she already was wouldn't do me any good. "If I let you go, you'd drop and become a human omelet in less than a minute."

She stiffened and stopped shouting.

"You better not let me go."

"I won't," I murmured, kissing her cheek. "I promise. Just try to enjoy this, okay?"

"I _can't, _Iggy. I'm _scared."_

"Haven't you ever wanted to fly?"

"Well, yeah, but—"

"Okay, then. Close your eyes and let yourself go."

"I—I can't."

"Maybe this'll help you." I turned her around and kissed her slowly, still flapping my wings.

(WARNING: DO NOT TRY THAT AT HOME. YOU WILL DIE. You don't have wings, and you're not a skilled—ow! _OW! _Nesibe, stop hitting me!)

**(Sorry for that interruption, folks. Iggy's being his usual conceited, jerkwad self. Back to the story now…)**

I heard a few whistles and woots, without a doubt provided by the Nudge and Angel. I ignored them.

"Can you feel it now?" I asked. "The urge to soar, to just let go of all your worries and enjoy the moment?"

"Oh yeah," she murmured.

"Come on, Ella. Let your inner bird out."

(Please don't tell anybody I said that, okay? It sounds cheesy.)

"I can fly!" she shouted as she let go of me and started dropping towards the ground.

I heard the gasps, the rush of wind as Ella fell, and calculated the time before she would probably be… dead.

I had enough time to save her.

I swooped down and caught her right before her body reached the ground.

"Um, when I said 'let yourself go', I didn't actually _mean_ 'let yourself _go_', you know."

"Sorry," she said, embarrassed. "I guess I thought I'd suddenly sprout wings or something."

"Let's try something different," I murmured.

We clasped our hands together and intertwined our legs. I guess we must've looked like a huge human cross from where the Flock was standing.

Ella threw her head back, her hair getting in my eyes. (Didn't make it any harder to navigate, though.)

"Thanks Iggy." She sighed. "I thought I'd _never _find a guy who'd make me feel like I was flying."

I laughed and squeezed her hand as we flew on.

**Short chap. Wanted to add some fun. Debated on having Ella fly with Iggy for like, days. Then I said, "What the hey, the girl should have a bit of a thrill."**

**QUICK QUESTION: Who is the best author you know on FanFiction? I don't have much time to read, so I haven't decided on mine yet, but I'm sure you guys can suggest some authors for me, and tell me about some authors that really rock.**

**SHOUT-OUT:**

**QUESTION OF THE FREAKIN' DAY: **_**Why don't you have a fan-made webpage like St. Fang of Boredom? **_

**Because I'm new to Fanfic, don't have a lot of stories/fans, and don't really care. I write for the fun, I don't write so someone can say that I'm awesome and make me a website. It would be cool tho. :D**

**I gotta go post the other chapter, so later dudes!**

**Ask me questions and I'll answer them!**

**R&R please!  
~N~**


	29. Chapter 29

I sighed as my feet touched the ground.

_Phew._

Ella wasn't heavy, but I wasn't used to flying with someone _attached _to me. It was better than having to carry Akila all the time, though.

"Thanks Iggy," Ella said, planting a kiss on my already reddening cheek. Having Dr. Martinez around sometimes made me nervous, so I didn't _kiss_ her, kiss her.

**(Bahahaha! Who would've guessed? Iggy, or favorite Flock clown, is respectuos. Haha. That's not even a word, you know? I just made it up. It means "respectful". There totally should be a world like that though. Okay, no more interruptions. Well, it depends. Okay, shutting up now.)**

"Well, I'll say," said a voice behind me. "I'm gone for two months and suddenly we have a new pair."

All of us turned around and stared at the newcomer. (Besides me. I just stared at nothingness.)

"Total!" Angel squealed, running up to him.

I heard the poor dog choke as Angel squeezed the breath out of him.

"Wow," Max muttered. "Guess who decides to join us _now?"_

"Did you _really_ need _two_ months for a honeymoon?" The Gasman asked disgustedly.

"We dogs have different honeymoons from you humans," Totally said haughtily.

"Do dogs even _have_ honeymoons?" Nudge asked, genuinely interested.

"Um, sir?" said a voice behind me. "Where do I, uh, leave the bags?"

"Leave them where they are. I already gave you your tip, so off with you now," Total shooed the man away.

"Who was _that?"_ I asked.

"Just our bellboy."

"You do realize that you scared the crap out of him by talking, don't you?" Max inquired.

"The world should get used to my powers," Total said, and I could almost see him shrugging.

"So, did you guys have a good honeymoon? What did you do? Where'd you go? Whom did you see?" Nudge asked excitedly.

"Uh, I would answer, but a black limo is pulling up, and I think it would be fair if you told me what was going on first."

"Uh, yeah," Max said slowly. "Iggy's gotta go find Fang."

"Don't be ridiculous! How is he supposed to find Fang?"

"The answer's in the car, Total. Just wait and see."

I couldn't help but laugh. It was good to have Total and his atrocious self back.

The car door opened and two people stepped out.

"Are you ready, Iggy?" Mr. Ryan asked.

"And who might you be?" Total asked, trotting up to him.

"Don't even bother, Total. He's just my Voice."

"Ah, so _you're _the infamous Voice."

"Yes, that I am, but as much as I would've liked to sit and chat with you, I really need to take Iggy now."

"Are you ready to leave, Iggy?" This time it was Jeb asking. Dang, these people were impatient.

"Uh, yeah. Just gimme a minute to say good-bye, all right?"

"Okay."

I turned to Max. She hugged me tightly. "Please find him. _Please."_

"I'll try my best," I murmured. Next up was Angel. She wrapped her skinny little arms around my waist. "Be careful."

Yeah. The mind-controlling seven-year-old tells _me _to be careful.

Nudge leaped up and stood on tip-toe so she could whisper in my ear. "Don't forget the CD. You promised." She patted my back.

Dr. Martinez stepped up and embraced me. Her hugs were one of those hugs where you never wanted to let go. Dr. M was the closest thing I would ever have to a mother, and I ate up every moment of the hug. She handed me a small bag. "I made you some cookies in the Baking Center. I hope you like them."

Reason number one why this mission was already looking good: I had a batch of delicious, homemade chocolate chip cookies. That was good enough as a reason to go.

"Hey Gazzy, I don't get a hug, man?" I asked teasingly.

"I'm shrugging."

"Why?" I bent down next to him, worried. Was he sick or something?

"Yeah, whatever. Go and come back. Don't break any bones."

I pulled Gazzy to one side so we could talk privately.

"All right, tell me what's up."

"Nothing."

"Which is why you're ignoring me? 'Cause there's 'nothing' going on?"

"Look, it's just that… You're not the old Iggy. I mean, I don't _think _you are, but I'm not sure. You changed a lot. All you care about is Ella now. Are you gonna wind up like Fang and leave us?"

So _that _was it. He was…jealous. Somehow the thought made me wanna laugh out loud, but I didn't so Gazzy wouldn't think I was mocking him or something.

"No," I said, making a face at that thought. "I'm not a dirtbag. I don't abandon my Flock."

"Look," I continued, placing my hands on his shoulders. "No matter who I'm with, or where I am, you'll always be my number one man. The Master of Disaster would be nothing without his gassy sidekick. And to prove it to you, I'm going to let you in on a little secret."

I leaned in closer to Gazzy in case any particular curly haired, blue eyed, blonde mutant was listening in on our conversation.

"Nudge keeps her makeup kit under her bed."

"And…?"

"They're going to do a makeover on Ella tonight."

"So?"

"So… Why don't you mix the avocado facial cream thingy with one of your explosive concoctions?"

"But Ella's your girlfriend."

"So?" I shrugged. "She's just another girl. And that means that we have to annoy her and play evil tricks on her."

"I _knew _I had to be wrong! You haven't changed! Thanks man!" Gazzy exclaimed. We high-fived, low-fived, did our special handshake (that would take you hours to learn, so I'm not even going to bother going into detail), and gave each other a quick hug. (Real men don't do long hugs.)

**(*rolls eyes* JERK!)**

We both headed back to where everyone else was standing. Someone tapped me on the shoulder.

"A_hem. _I think you're forgetting someone."

I turned around and smiled at Ella.

"You're kinda hard to forget, you know that?"

"O_kay," _Max said, turning on her heel. "Why don't we leave you two alone?"

Everybody scuttled inside, and I couldn't help myself, I laughed.

"They're so weird."

"Mhmm," she mumbled absentmindedly.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"No. I was just thinking of what I was going to do without you."

"Aw, come _on. _It's not _that _bad. I'll find Fang, drag him back here by his emo hair, we'll remodel the house, and everyone will live happily ever after."

Okay, so that was probably the biggest (or one of the biggest) lies I'd ever told, but I needed to comfort Ella in some way.

"And what about your kisses? I'm really gonna miss those."

"Well, save this one 'till I get back," I said, firmly planting a kiss on her lips. The seconds that passed by were like hours as my skin grew hot, I felt this burning sensation inside of me, and suddenly I didn't want to do anything. I just wanted to be with Ella forever in a happy little island far away from DumbBots or Flyboys or crazy scientists. Ella always made me feel that way when she kissed me. I finally pulled back. "Don't miss me too much, 'kay?"

"I'll try not to."

I ran back inside, knowing she would probably burst into tears if we stayed together longer. She was getting a little bit emotional these days. I hoped the facial cream experience would do her some good….

"All set?" Mr. Ryan asked me.

"Yeah."

"Okay, get in the car. We've got to take you back to the lab first."

Lab?

_Lab?_

No one said anything about a lab!

**Long-ish chapter. To make up for the short one that came before it. So. I've decided that I will do a… no wait, I haven't decided yet, 'cause only one person answered, so I will ask again. **

**WHAT KIND OF ROMANCE SHOULD I DO NEXT?**

**Eggy, Niggy, Fudge, Fax, Mylan, Miggy, etc.?**

**This is important to me, so I'd really appreciate it if you answered.**

**SHOUT-OUT: Okay, so this girl named Battle-Royale-Hiroki did this awesome story about iCarly and The Flock meeting and Carly being her usual snobby self and wanting Fang (going by the name of "[F]Nick") for herself. It's pretty rockin'. It's called Fang and the iCarly crew. Check it out.**

**QUESTION OF THE DAY: **_**What MR character are you most like?**_

**Um, I took a quiz just because you asked that, and the results were:**

You're just like Fang. Quiet, and dark, you'd rather stay hidden than fight but when your needed you rise to the occasion! (& your crushen on Max harddddd)

**IDK about the "crushing on Max hard thing". I'm pretty sure I'm straight. Is there something the quiz knows about me that *I* don't? o.O**

**Ask me questions on formspring and I'll answer you!**

**I love talking to my readers on fanfic!**

**Well, send me your advice/criticism/whatever, and please don't forget to R&R!**

**~N~**


	30. Chapter 30

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a second!" I said, pulling my foot out of the limousine. "Nobody said anything about labs. Who's going to a lab? Not _me, _that's for sure." I clenched my fists, sweating.

"There's no reason to act groundlessly Iggy. We're not going to do anything, just pick up some things we'll need, that's all," Mr. Ryan tried to calm me.

"You're afraid," Jeb said slowly.

_No freakin' duh,_ I thought.

Me + Science Labs + Needles = Sightless Mutant Bird Freak.

"That's absurd," Mr. Ryan said.

Oh, and _this guy_ was the glorious, know-all Voice. Jeb was more reasonable than this dude. How come an idiot got to be the Voice?

"Iggy has no reason to be afraid of labs," he continued.

"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I actually have a reason for hating labs. It includes being blind. Is it _so freakin' hard _to put two and two together?"

"I see where you get your charm from," Mr. Ryan remarked. His tone was crisp. "You're just like Maximum, if not wittier."

I bowed. "Why, thank you. I seem to have a specialty in the 'Sarcasm Department'."

"How wonderful," Mr. Ryan replied sharply.

Huh. It seemed to me that this guy and I were going to be _such good friends._

"Just get in the car, Iggy," Jeb said, holding my arm. "I promise we won't do anything to you."

"Yeah, and I'm supposed to trust you 'cause you've kept all of your promises to us, like not leaving us, right?" I snarled.

Jeb let go of my arm and I could practically feel the confusedly angry heat his body was giving off.

"Fine," he sighed. "What do you suggest we do?"

"I'll fly there. I can follow the noise of the car."

"Deal."

The two men got in the car, and I flew up, straining my ears to hear the automobile's sound. It was really hard to follow them, what with the roads being perfect and the limo all sleek and (almost) noiseless. I mainly listened to Mr. Ryan and Jeb's conversation. (Yeah, I'm special that way. I can hear things even high-and-mighty Max can't. It doesn't make up for the lack of eyesight, though.)

"Do you think he'll be able to accomplish the mission?" Mr. Ryan asked.

"Iggy's a brilliant boy. He just doesn't know which direction to go in yet," Jeb replied.

I snorted. Like I even _had _a choice. I had to follow Max around like a freakin' puppy.

"I've never thought about him very much," Mr. R said slowly.

_Well, you're not the first,_ I thought bitterly. _Everyone ignores the blind kid. Max is the real prize._

The more I thought about it, the more it hurt me. It was like everything was about Max, Fang, and Angel, and the rest of us were like, background dancers or something. We were just there for show.

Although there _was _that one thing: The Flock would _die _if they didn't have an awesome cook like yours truly. Though this awesome cook was tired of cooking "awesomely". He just wanted to go somewhere where someone else would cook for them, and he could relax, not having to worry about anything, and be able to spend some quality time with the most beautiful girl on the planet. (Or you could refer to her as Ella. The awesome cook doesn't mind.)

**(*bonks Iggy on the head* You really ARE going crazy! You poor boy! You're speaking in third person now! I wonder what's next: Trying to take over as leader?)**

(*pushes Nesibe out of the story* I'm not Angel, okay? And I thought maybe the readers would enjoy a bit of third person narration! Get out of the story already!)

**(*pushes Iggy back* Um, if you haven't noticed, this is kind of MY story, so you can't shoo me away! I'm the reason all of this is happening to you, okay? So respect me. I am your God. Muahahaha!)**

(*sits on Nesibe and continues with the story*)

About two hours later, the limo pulled to a stop, and I started whapping my wings a little less forcefully. I landed besides Jeb.

My palms were already getting sweaty and I felt nauseous.

Yup, definitely a lab. No doubt about it.

**I don't have much to say. (Could it be because I have a gorgeous, teen bird kid sitting atop me?) **

**(IF YOU'RE WONDERING HOW IGGY CAN NARRATE WHILE SITTING ON ME, I DUNNO, LEMME GO ASK HIM.)**

**He says it's called narrating afterwards, and that you're all stupid.**

**I say he's too full of himself.**

**He responds with putting all of his weight on my tiny body.**

**I shriek, telling him that I will make him go through miserable pain in the next chapter. I assure him the pain will have something to do with needles.**

**He shudders and gets off me. **

…**Ahh, that's better. Sorry. I thought it'd be a good idea to have Iggy with me while I was writing. **

… **Apparently, I was wrong. Oh so very wrong. All he does is talk about Ella. *seethes***

**Anyhoo, **

**THANK YOUHS FOR ALL THE AWESOME REVIEWS! **

**You can't imagine how happy they make me!**

**And if you have any random questions about me, the story, or random stuff, just ask me on formspring. **

**(The contact info's in the profile.)**

**Gonna go post the other chapter now.**

**Keep rockin'!  
~N~**


	31. Chapter 31

"Okay," Jeb said. "Let's go in."

"Oh no," I said, crossing my hands over my chest and staring defiantly into what I hoped were his eyes. "I'm not going in there. I don't trust you two, not one freakin' bit."

"Why not?" Mr. Ryan asked. Oh yeah, and Max calls _me _stupid.

"Um, there's obviously a reason for you not getting your supplies _before _you came to get me, and I'm not sticking around to find out what it is."

_Good call_, my little voice peeped up.

It had been silent for quite a while now. It was good to have it back.

Mr. Ryan sighed. "All right, but don't go anywhere. Okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. And you do realize that you're talking to a fifteen-year-old, not a toddler, right? I don't need to be told what to do." I lifted my chin in the air.

"Ah, yes. Well, it would be nice if you waited for us here. There, how's that? I'm not ordering you, I'm just asking you."

"You still need to work on it," I told him.

Normal people give credit where credit is due, but I'm not normal, if you haven't figured out by now, so I was going to give the dude any praise.

**(Gee, Ig. Could the "not being normal" thing have anything to do with the fact that you're winged and blind?)**

(I dunno, maybe.)

**(Indignant jerk.)**

(Shut UP! Damn, you interrupt a lot. You've got a big mouth, anybody ever tell you that?)

I waited for a long time. A very long time.

As in, so long that I actually began wondering if they'd just left me in the middle of nowhere and gone away, maniacally cackling. Me being blind could be such an advantage to white coats.

I hated it.

I played with my fingers, listened to my iPod, thought about Fang, thought about Ella, thought about Akila—for some reason I haven't been able to figure out yet.

God, where _were _they?

Just when I was ready to fly off, the doors opened.

"All set," Jeb said.

"What did you guys go in for, anyways?" I demanded to know.

They had kept me waiting for _so freakin' long _that if they didn't have a good reason for it, I would both beat the crap out of them.

"Gear. For the mission."

"Like what?"

"Like this little headset. Here, place it in your ear. That way, you'll be able to listen to us."

Oh joy. I was going to have company on my mission. Woot? Yeah, I thought not.

"And also take this taser," Mr. Ryan said, placing a small, square-ish object in my hand.

"A _taser? _A freakin' _taser?" _I said, doubling over. "You guys _cannot _be serious."

For some reason, they didn't see the funny side of the situation like I did, so I explained:

"You retards think I need a taser?"

"Yes, for safety precautions," Mr. Ryan said.

"I've killed robots with my bare hands! What makes you think I'm gonna need a taser?"

"He's got a point," Jeb murmured.

"Okay, fine. Let's cross the taser off the list," Mr. Ryan said, irritated. "We've also got—"

"Nah," I said, shooing him away. "I don't need your high-tech gear. I'll just take the stupid microphone thingy so I can contact you."

"But it's necessary that you—"

"Hey," I snarled. "_My _mission, _my _rules. Okay?"

"But—but," Mr. Ryan sputtered.

"Haven't your parents ever told you 'no buts'? I think it applies here perfectly. Have a nice day."

I jumped into the air and flapped my wings.

Screw scientists.

**Okay… Awkard, short chapter. Oh well. I'm tired. Oh, and if any of you are wondering why Iggy and I seem to interrupt the story so often, here's what happened:**

**When I first got the idea for this story, I called Iggy over, asking if he could help me. We got along really well: he cooked, I cleaned, and we both laughed. (Laughing = good sign of friendship.) UNTIL… In the later chapters I decided that Iggy and Ella were getting WAY too much face time and made a remark about it. Iggy got angry, and now we constantly squabble. Yes. Our friendship was ruined by Ella—OW! DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT? No, of course you didn't. WELL, DID YOU HEAR IT? Iggy punched me. I really need to get rid of this boy….**

**Well, please ask me your questions on formspring, send me your advice/criticism/blah. **

**QUICK QUESTION: (THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! PLEASE ANSWER!) Will you be at home during summer? As in, will you be on fanfic, or will you be partyin' away in another country? Depending on your answers, I will post more MR stories.**

**SHOUT-OUT: Today's shout-out is to Heart The Squid. She's a really awesome girl who wrote this story called "Just Ig". It's basically "FANG" but from Iggy's P.O.V. You should really go read it. :)**

**QUESTION OF THE DAY: **_**Dude, you rock! How come you're so awesome?**_

**Simple. I work out. Bahahaha. xP Thanks, that's really nice!**

**Well, there's nothing left to say.**

**Oh, wait, Iggy has a few things he wants to say:**

**Uh, yeah, hi. Iggy here. Sorry for the sappy story. Wasn't my idea. Just a simple question: Why does everyone find the need to pair me up with Nudge? Do you guys think we're like, cute together or something?**

***Nesibe takes over* **

**Okayyy, don't listen to him. He's crazy.**

***Iggy, from the distance* AM NOT!**

**Yeah, okay. **

**Bye now.**

**Please R&R or I won't have any reason to put up with this boy's ridiculous nonsense.**

**Keep rockin'!  
~N~**


	32. Chapter 32

**Guess who's back? Not sexy, that's fo' sho! (Iggy said that was the lamest joke he has ever heard….) So, maybe that break was longer than needed, but I just had three of the best, most exhausting, and stressing three weeks of my life. (If you really want the whole story, PM me.) I DO have some important news, though: I started writing this story during a very stressful month, and now that that month's over, my writing style may change a bit. I may get a little more sarcastic at times, or make you laugh a bit more. This chappie may not be like that 'cause it was written BEFORE my exams.**

**Total Randomness: **As you guys know, I have been busy with finals for the last two weeks, and something really random happened and I wanted to share it with you guys. Okay, so we were gonna have the math final, but the teacher didn't show up, so our English teacher, who speaks English pretty well (Wow. Such a shocker that an English teacher knows English, eh?) had to watch us while we were doing the test. He decided to give us a bonus question, so he wrote: **What is the meaning of life? **on the board and told us that whoever gave the right answer would get ten points. My response was this: **The word "life" (lie-f) originally derives from the TxtMsgerian word "lyf". (Other examples of TxtMsgerian words: fck, sum1, brny th prpl dnsr) You have to take off the L because, well, L rocks. I mean, just think of it: all the awesome things in the world start with the letter "L". I.E. Llamas, Lasagna, Lady GaGa, and Luke Skywalker. And L is so supreme that putting it next to Y and F would be mocking it. I mean, come **_**on, **_**everyone knows that Y and F are Loser Letters. (Both those words start with L. Could that possibly be a sign?) Then, you have to switch Y and F around, because it's like dividing fractions, where you swap the denominator and the numerator in order to divide the stupid fraction. So what do we have? FY. FY stands for "Fuck You", which is what everyone would say to Life if Life was an actual person. And that, my dear friend, is the meaning of Life. **I thought I would get detention or something for using bad words but believe it or not, I got a 110 on my test.

* * *

I hummed as I flew, not sure where I was going.

Weren't these crazy scientists supposed to give me directions?

"Yo, where am I supposed to go, man? What kind of mission is this?" I shouted extra loud, in case their headsets' volumes were on HIGH.

"Turn right. You're not on track," Mr. Ryan said.

"Gee, I wonder why _that _might be. Could it have anything to do with the fact that I've been flying for _two hours straight without even a freakin' GPS to help me? _Aren't scientists supposed to be geniuses?_"_

Silence.

"Tell me, Iggy: How do you fly with your 'buddies'?" Mr. Ryan asked.

"I follow the sound of their wings. Duh."

"That's interesting."

"So, where's Fang supposed to be, anyways? And I really don't get why you want _me _to find him. I mean, _hello_? Blind dude here."

"Yes, you're blind, but you're significant."

"Wow, I'm honored that you think I'm noteworthy. Now tell me, how am I supposed to find him? There's like what, thousands of millions of gazillions of people in America. And I can't see. And somehow, you think that I can find him anyway. Doesn't seem like a well, thought-out plan to me."

"Who else were we supposed to send?" Jeb asked.

I shrugged, knowing that they could see me as much as I could see them, but not caring one bit.

"Why didn't you get Nudge to go?"

"She's too easily distracted."

"True. She'd probably start looking for Fang, but see a 'totally cute pair of designer boots' or something. Well, why not Gazzy or Angel?"

"Angel is… slightly unbalanced. And Gazzy is too young."

"Yeah, but he's had more life experience than any of you."

"We just didn't think that Fang would listen to Gazzy."

"Okay. Fair enough. But don't forget, I'm blind. I don't have the advantages everyone else has."

"But you were the only one available."

Huh.

That made me feel _real_ special right there. Like, they would send Max if they could, but since they couldn't, I was the second choice.

It was all about Max, wasn't it?

Nobody else mattered.

We were her little tag-alongs, her sidekicks.

It disgusted me.

"So, what am I supposed to do? Do I just go up to Fang and say, 'Hey man, Jeb and the Voice want you to come back, so c'mon, let's go home.'? You wack-jobs haven't even thought this through, have you?"

"As a matter of fact, we have," Mr. Ryan said angrily.

I chuckled. Annoying people was one of my many specialties.

"We'll give you directions, and you'll follow them," Jeb said. "When you find Fang, you'll tell him that Max is gone and that you need his help."

"Uh, Max isn't gone."

"Yes. But you must tell him that if you want him to follow you," Mr. Ryan explained.

"Wait—you want me to _lie? _To _Fang? _About _Max?"_

"That is exactly what we want."

"Do you bozos have any freakin' idea of how badly I will get my ass kicked by two of the most obnoxious people in the world if I do that?"

"You want Fang to come back, don't you?"

"Sure I do. But I also wanna continue living, if you don't mind."

"Iggy, this is not the time to make jokes."

"I'm not joking. Seriously, dude, Max will kill me, bring me back to life, and then kill me again."

"Are you sure? Won't she be happy that you brought Fang back?"

"No. She'd be embarrassed. And pissed."

"Why?"

"Because if I told Fang that Max had left, he'd think that she was searching for him, and would suggest searching for _her_. And Max would be embarrassed that Fang thought that she was weak enough to go looking for him and—"

"Okay, we get it," Jeb interrupted.

"Why didn't we think of that?" Mr. R muttered to himself.

"'Cause you don't know the Flock half as well as you think you do?" I suggested.

I scoffed. These guys were such amateurs.

* * *

"Am I there yet?" I whined. I'd been flying for six hours straight, without food or water.

"No. You've still got a two hours' worth of a ride till you reach your destination."

**(This guy sounds like a freakin' GPS, doesn't he? xD)**

(Go away. I'm trying to tell a story here.)

**(*huffs* Fine. I'll be in my little corner if you need me.)**

"Can't I stop somewhere and grab something to eat?"

Mr. Ryan sighed.

"Fine."

"All right!" I swooped downwards, flapping my wings harder. All I wanted to do was eat food. Now.

"Where can I land?" I asked. I hated being so needy. With the Flock, it wasn't a problem. Usually, I didn't even need to ask. With the scientists, it was embarrassing. Like I was a little kid or something.

Yes, being blind sucks.

I don't recommend it.

**(Does that even make sen—OW!)**

"Keep flying. You're heading towards a good place. You're going to land behind an old apartment."

"Okay. What next?" I asked when my feet hit the ground.

"Um, keep walking. Yes, yes. That's good. Turn left."

I did as I was told (a rare thing…). As I turned around the corner, thousands of different smells, voices, and colors filled my brain.

"Where exactly _am _I?"

"Er—Los Angeles."

Los Angeles.

Cool.

"Keep going. There's supposed to be a—"

"I can figure out the rest by myself. My nose will lead me," I said, annoyed.

I wasn't _that _disadvantaged.

I sniffed here and there, trying to find the source of all the delicious smelling food.

To my right, there was a restaurant. I was sure of it. There was a heavy oily/meaty smell coming form that direction.

It could only mean one thing: fast food.

I ran inside and dashed to the counter.

I threw down ten bucks.

"Can you get me a—"

"Oh my goodness! You're him! "The person next to me shouted-no, more like squealed- excitedly.

Eh?

* * *

**QUICK QUESTION: DID YOU WATCH ANY OF THE WORLD CUP MATCHES? I WATCHED MEXICO/SOUTH AFRICA AND IT WAS FREAKIN' ELITE. (That was for you, Heart The Squid!)**

**SHOUT-OUT: Shout-out goes to ianhunter and his/her oneshot called ****Maximum Ride: The Exploding Pizza Book 4. People need to learn to respect Gazzy and stop underestimating him so much.**

**QUESTION OF THE DAY:**_** I know you, and I think you're a lot like Max, except for the pigheadedness thing. Do you think you're like Max?**_

**My buddies tell me I'm not like Max. They tell me I'm a total Fax. (Not the pairing. Something between Max and Fang.)  
I don't dominate, I'm quiet AND spontaneous. I can kick your ass. I'm a very…witty person, and… well, I really don't know. Seriously. I be stupid.**

**Oh, and I made a blog. Things are bound to get interesting… If anyone teaches me how to link stuff (for example: It says MY TWITTER on my profile, and you press it, and it takes you to my Twitter. I don't know how to do that.) But, until then, just write www (dot) nsays (dot) tumblr (dot) com**

**-The Winged Wonder-**


	33. Chapter 33

**Okay, so, maybe FF didn't send you guys that handy-dandy e-mail, but I started writing again. I deleted that other "chapter" (the note to you guys) and posted another chappie. Maybe you guys didn't know. Now you do. So, if you haven't read the other chapter, (Chap 32) I advise you to go do it now, in order to understand what the hell is going on. I wasn't gonna update for quite a while (other stories to write, blogs to post, stupid science projects to do.) BUT I had a chat with crazygurl56 and got inspired and decided to update. (It might also have to do with today being a very, very fun day full of dancing and Cheetos.)

* * *

**

I looked up (ha-ha) at the girl next to me, who was, for some strange reason, hyperventilating.

"You're him!" she yelled again. "You're that guy!"

Okay, someone needs to explain to this chick that "you're him" obviously means you're a guy (unless "him"'s meaning has changed and it now means "Sparkly Rainbow Unicorn"), so saying "you're that guy" doesn't narrow it down. At all. And how many "guys" are in this crapped up world? Right. More than you can imagine.

"I'm _what _guy?" I responded, trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

"You're like, that guy!" There we go again. Good lord, someone get this girl a thesaurus. "The one from the T.V.! With the wings!"

Oh_damn_shit_fucking_crap_hell_. See, _this_ is what happens when the creepy seven-year-old decides to take charge: you go live on T.V. and suddenly have crazy rabid fangirls acting all… crazy rabid fangirlish on you.

"Can I have your autograph?" she asked excitedly, thrusting a notebook and a pen into my unexpecting **(I realize that that's not a word, but it totally should be. If there's "unexpected", then "unexpecting" should exist too!) **hands. (Are fangirls always equipped with this stuff in case they meet Zac Efron in a gas station in the middle of nowhere where there are no writing utensils?)

"Um, I think you've got the wrong _guy," _I said, emphasizing on the last word. (I'm not considered a kid anymore! Guy = man! Lemme do a fangirl squeal: SQUEE!)

"No," she said stubbornly, and I heard her hair swishing as she shook her head. "You're _him. _I'm _sure_ of it. I even played the video again on YouTube and froze the frame to take a picture of you! Look!"

There was some rustling as she took out a photo, which she placed into my already-full hands. I decided not to let her in on the fact that I was blind and held the photograph close to my face, pretending to peer at it closely.

"Nope," I declared, handing it back to her. "He really looks like me, but I think I'd know if I was that guy, and I'm not. Nice chatting with you, though." I picked up my money, nodded in the girl's direction, and casually walked out the doors.

_Darn you! _I thought. Well, I thought something _much _worse, but let's just go with "Damn you!"

Now I wasn't going to be able to eat until I got to another city. As if on cue, my stomach grumbled.

"Wait!"

I turned around without wanting to and sighed. This chick just didn't know when to leave something alone, did she? "Yeah?"

"Why did you get up so quickly? Weren't you gonna eat? Are you running away? You _are _that dude, aren't you? That's why you're running from me, isn't it? " she fired the questions so quickly at me that I barely had the time to answer one before she started another.

"What's your name?" I asked her when she finally stopped.

"Uh…Lexi. Why?"

"Well, Lexi, can you tell me why you carry a picture of a me look-alike around? That's very creeper-child-ish."

"Uh, 'cause you're _hot."_

If Nudge carried around a photo of every dude that she thought was hot, she'd be carrying around an extra ten pounds.

…And it really sucked that she still thought I was that guy. (I _was_ him, but, you see—you know what? Screw it.)

"Yeah, well, I have a girlfriend. Bye."

"Wait!" she shouted again. I kept walking, and she ran to catch up to me.

"You never told me _your _name," she huffed, trying to keep up with my long strides.

"Uh…Bob. Bob…Jones. Yeah, that's right. Bob Jones."

Yeah, nice going, Ig. If Bob Jones isn't the most genetic, common name next to John Smith, then I'm Dumbledore himself.

"Bob…Jones?" Lexi asked unbelievingly.

"Uh, yeah, but it's pronounced Jonas. You know, like the Jonas Brothers."

I have officially used the Jo-Bros in a sentence that didn't also include the words "gay" and "fags" in it. Please, someone just shoot me now.

"Well, _Bob_, don't you wanna do something bad every now and then? Don't you wanna live your life, have some fun?" She grabbed my hand and I stopped dead in my tracks.

"How _old_ are you?" I asked disgustedly.

"Fourteen, but everyone says I'm mature for my age. Besides, age doesn't matter. I can give you the time of your life."

You know, I miss the old days when people had some _fucking self-respect _left.

Time for Plan B. Wait—do I even _have _a Plan B? Think, Iggy, think.

"I'm gay," I blurted out. Right. There goes the last of my dignity.

"I thought you said you had a girlfriend," Lexi said, obviously confused.

Uhh…

"I lied. I'm gay. Um, like, totally, girlfriend!"

I am officially handing in my man card first thing tomorrow morning.

"That's okay!" she responded cheerfully. "We can have sleepovers together and talk about guys and…" I kinda stopped listening after that. Didn't anything faze this girl? I thought of possible escape routes as she blabbered on about nail polish or something. (That's Nudge's area of expertise, not mine.)

You know, I always kind of envied Fang and his throng of fangirls. (FANGirls. Hehe.) But if this was what he had to put up with every day, well, let's just say I'd rather eat mouse droppings covered in dog fur (no offense, Total and Akila) for the rest of my miserable life.

"Lexi?" I said, putting my hands on her shoulders. "I have to tell you something very, _very_ important. If you could just move a bit to the side…" Her feet shuffled as she did what she was told.

"Yeah?" she asked excitedly.

"I think you're… _themostcraziestfangirl inthehistory ofcraziestfangirls!" _And with that, I ran shouted something behind me (probably something about my mom) but at the same time, Jeb decided to speak up, so I couldn't make out what it was.

_You know, I always thought you were a bit different from the rest, maybe 'cause you were less advantaged, but I never thought of you as crazy._

_Hey, it got me out of the sitch, didn't it? _Was my lame response. Truth be told, what I'd done _was _pretty crazy, but I was tired of living a soap opera. (Seriously. Fox should think of filming our lives.) I ran for about another fifteen minutes without ever looking back (it's a habitual thing), and when I decided that I was far enough from The Crazed Fangirl, I decided to ask for help. (It's so lame to ask for help. It makes me feel weak and vulnerable.) _Where do I go? That creep'd follow me to the end of the universe if she could._

_Turn left after six steps,_ Mr. Ryan instructed. _Okay, good. Now turn right. Yes, yes, good. Keep walking until you hear the music. _

_What mu—oh, that music. What's going on?_

From what I could hear, some girls were having a karaoke contest. Or something like that.

_Why am I here?_

_Just turn right._

_Fine. Now what?_

_Can you still hear the music?_

_Yeah, but it's faint. Can't _you_ hear it? You're kinda in my head. _

_Yes, but I don't have super-sensors like you. You're in an abandoned parking lot behind an old recording studio._

Ah, that explains the music. (Sorry to the girls who were singing back there, but you guys sucked. Oh, well. Maybe you'll become the next Kesha or something.)

_You can take to the air here. No one'll see you. _

_Cool. _(No, I will not thank him. I wasn't raised to be polite, I was raised to hate [almost] everyone that had ever worn a white lab coat in all of their life.)

I spread my wings and launched myself into the air, breathing a sigh of relief.

Another unwanted disaster averted.

(Although I'll never live down what just happened. No one needs to know about it, and I'll personally make sure the first person to spill the beans –ahem- _Jeb or Mr. Ryan-_ won't live to see another day.)

* * *

**Note to Lexi: Yes, I DID name that girl Lexi because of you. No, you do not remind me of her, I just thought you belonged in the story. NO, you could NOT have been Iggy's lover, instead of Ella. SO THERE. Just be happy I put you in the stupid story.**

…**AND, I wish I could've written myself as Lexi, but it wouldn't fit into the story. (**_**Oh, hey. I'm Sibe! I'm the author of all this crap that's happening to you!)**_

_**:D**_

_**And I warned you guys that my writing style might kind of change, didn't I? :)  
**_

**-TWW-**


	34. Chapter 34

To my devoted reader/fan of "So Close",

I'm so glad you like my story (ies) enough to put up with me and still send in reviews.

Thank you very much for that.

Before you say anything about the long hiatus, I will hopefully be coming back very soon. I have pretty much had the worst year of my life and hopefully 2011 will be better for me. It's one of my biggest New Year's resolutions: To get my butt back on FF and WRITE SOMETHING. I haven't been able to write for a long time, so I'm giving myself a month (January) to re-read the MR books, write a couple of samples, do some writing exercises, to get back on track, because I don't want to come back and write a chapter that is unlike my usual writing style.

In February, the 7th book is coming out, so I MIGHT wait for that.

So, overall, sometime towards the middle of February, you will get new chapters (with less AN's).

Thank you so very much for putting up with me and 6 months without any news.

I respect you all so much for that.

The Winged Wonder.

(Also, those who got these in their inboxes, please disregard it. I had to post this as a chapter because I wanted the reader's who didn't allow PMing to be aware of this also.)


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